A New Thief in Remnant
by Good at Being Bad
Summary: My boring day suddenly got interesting. It started normally enough but ended(?) with my death. And subsequent resurrection into the RWBY universe. (SI/OC, M tag is precautionary, expect dark themes maybe character death)
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Rachel."

"Huh?"

"I'm bored. You?"

"Yeah…"

I go to check the clock again.

"Still got a few hours until closing."

"Of course we do. It's not even dark out yet." Rachel replies.

"True, True."

I should probably introduce myself at this point. As if I have much to do at the moment. My names Zarek. I'm a fairly average 17 year old, six foot guy. I'm currently at work, as boring as it is for a Wednesday afternoon.

I bring up a hand to rub my stubble. Mumbling little things to myself, I go about cleaning the counter. Again. It was at this moment whatever god is watching decides to give me and the rest of my hometown the middle finger. Not to mention the rest of the continental US.

"Rachel, you hear that?"

"Uh." She pauses for a moment. "Is that sirens?"

"Yeah, I hear it too. It can't be a tornado, can it?"

"No, that was last week. Although, considering Texas' bipolar weather, it could be."

The sirens cease for a, presumably, prerecorded message.

"This is a warning for all residents. Find cover and hunker down for a Nuclear Attack. This is not a test. I repeat. This is not a test."

"Well, shit." we sync.

"Welp nice knowin' ya."

"Wait, what? That's it? You're not even going to try to survive?" Rachel questions.

"Yeah, Imma just go hit up the wine section first though."

"Suit yourself. I'm going to take a spot in the freezer."

Rachel walks into the backroom, while I go to the wine section. Humming to myself while I pull out one of the bottles, I feel a tug on my chef coat.

I hum as I turn around to see a child. No older than five. She looks to have been crying for sometime as the tear marks stain her cheeks.

"H-have you seen my mommy?"

"K-kid? What are you doing out here? Nevermind that, you need to get to one of the freezers."

"Fweessers?"

"Yeah freezers, what we use to keep the food we have yet to cook cold. Now come on, I'll help you find your mommy."

"Thank you mister."

Seeing as there is no time to lose I pick up the kid and take her to the nearest freezer. Which, just my luck, is full. So are the next two. And the one of the freezers in the packaging section too. Just when I was about to give out hope on this kid living, I open the last freezer (that I know of, hey I'm still fairly new around here) and thank whatever nonspecific deity is up there, as there is space! For one. Eh. I wasn't planning to live through this anyway.

"Kid, there's only room for one of us in here, you've got to live through this mess. Now, go find your parents."

"What about you mister?"

"Me? I'm about to find out if there's a God."

With that, I close the freezer and sit with my back to it before realising I want a good view of the mushroom cloud. As dumb as that is. While taking a swig from the bottle, I idly note it's actually pretty good. Walking out of the loading area, pain, lots of pain, before nothing.

Waking up what feels like a short time after, I take in my surroundings.

'Is this the warp? Am I going to meet Khorne? Or Slaanesh? Not that I'd mind Slaanesh…'

For those of you not in the warp with me, its filled with stars, dozens of little balls of flaming plasma dotting the horizon(?). Before me are four flames, from left to right, a deep purple flame, a bright gold with brief flashes of darkness across it, a verdant green flame, and lastly a lime green flame. I stretch my nonexistent arms. What? It's the warp, nothing here technically exists.

'Hmm, that felt good. Umm… is there anything to do here before the 41st millenium?'

Wandering, I head up to one of the "stars".

'Huh, this is another universe. So the multiverse theory was right.'

I continue this until I feel a tug, unlike the kid tugging on my chef coat, this felt like someone was dragging me, by the heart, towards one of the universes. Deciding to give in, I begin running towards the universe bubble. I purposely stop just short to try to see what universe this is. However, I do not get my wish as I'm am dragged into the universe by the unseen hand.

Confirming the multiverse theory, is only kinda weird and actually kind of awesome. Waking up in a new universe is weird. Waking up in a new universe in your old body (not that I was unhappy with it) is stranger still. The strangest thing of waking up today would have to be the fact I am currently being rode like a human sex toy by the Neopolitan. That alone gives me all the information I need to guess that I'm in the RWBYverse.

Having just woke up, I lie in bed for a while longer to get more of my bearings. The room is unfamiliar to me (no shit sherlock) but it's nicely maintained. Next to the bed is a dresser with Neo's iconic parasol leaning up next to it. There's a desk across from the bed with a computer sitting on it and a couple of dust crystals. To my right is a fairly large window, that gives me a good view of Vale. Well, the curtains are closed but from what I can see it is a good view.

A couple minutes pass, or maybe hours? It's hard to tell when you're having fun and there's no clocks. But eventually, Neo comes. Hard. Having never experienced anything like this, Her orgasm sets me off as well. The Ice Cream themed psychopath freezes and slowly turns around to see my cocky grin.

"Had fun?" I ask, only being half sarcastic.

"Yes!" She cheerfully exclaims.

Wait, what?

"Did you have fun?" She continues, oblivious to my realisation.

"...Yes." I admit.

Neo hums in acknowledgement while she pulls off of my member with a squelch. I watch as Neo walks over to her dresser and begins clothing herself.

"So," Neo begins, "Might I ask why you teleported into my apartment?"

"Hah, I was hoping you could tell me what I'm doing here." I state, actually confused.

"You don't know either? Did you hit your head or something?" Neo asks while putting on her brown undershirt thing.

"I must have, I don't recall much before just now." I lie.

Neo pauses putting on her pants and looks at me, while I give my best "What the hell is happening" look.

"Alright," She begins,"What do you remember?"

"Small bits and pieces of my past." A pause. "I do remember my name and a few familiar faces, but no names to go with them." I continue the lie.

"Then, what is your name? I'm Neopolitan! But most people just call me Neo."

"Names Zarek, nice to meet you Neo. Now, uhh, do you have any clothes I can borrow?"

"Your clothes are in the closet. I washed and hung them for you." She says as she points at the closet.

Humming my acknowledgements, I go to the designated closet and begin putting on my clothes. Oddly enough I didn't come to Remnant with the clothes on my back when I died. Now that's a weird thought, I actually died. Huh. Anyway, the only clothes in the closet were my sports underwear, a pair of jeans (I'm not actually a pants kind of guy, I prefer shorts), my one skivvy shirt (it's so comfy can you blame me?), and my jacket.

'Wait, is this my jacket?'

I check the right sleeve for the paint stain that I know to be there. Sure enough, it is.

'Lucky me, I liked this jacket.'

Finishing clothing myself, I head out into the living room with its attached kitchen. Neo is sitting on the couch with a bowl of… something. I can't see from this angle. She's watching the news with Lisa Lavender. Anybody remember her? Yeah, she's the news lady. There's some story about rumors in Beacon about Ozpin being several hundred years old. I have to force myself not to laugh at the irony.

I plop down next to Neo and watch the news with her for a while. Noting the date of today… It looks like school should have started, at least back at home. …Thank you Lisa for convenient timing of telling me Beacon just started. The news feed cuts to a view of the initiation ceremony, apparently showing off one of the "power teams" that are newly formed.

'That's team CFVY. That means I have a year until the main events of RWBY. Good… I have plans to accomplish.'

"Hey," Neos voice snaps me out of my thoughts, "What's your opinion on huntsmen?"

"Huntsmen?" I lie, continuing from earlier.

"Yeah, the 'guardians of the world', and all that jazz." Neo explains.

"Guardians? Guarding us, I assume, from what?" I question, continuing the lie.

"The creatures of Grimm. The nightmare tale that is told to small children." Neo continues the explanation.

"If they are just a tale, then why do we need Huntsmen?" I ask, only half lying.

"Because they aren't a tale. Its fact." Neo gets up and walks off to her room and returns with a Beowolf plushie. "This is one of the types of Grimm. The Beowolf, commonly found in packs of four or more. But here in the Kingdoms, they are a non-issue. It's the bigger Grimm that are a real threat."

"Kingdoms?" I continue the lie.

"You hit your head hard, huh, numbskull?"

"Already onto pet names I see, alright sweetie." I tease.

"Jeez, you make it sound like we're an old married couple." Neo comments.

"Not that I'd mind…" I mumble under my breath.

"But… Kingdoms?" I say, getting us back on track.

"Right, the four Kingdoms of the world are the only real safe places from the Grimm. They are Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, and Vale. Where we are right now, would be Vale. The metaphorical center of the world, Vale boasts the most influence compared to the other Kingdoms as its literally in the center of the other Kingdoms. Vale's influence is further bolstered by the simple fact Ozpin is the Headmaster of Beacon. It has the largest port and airport as it is a common stop for cruise ships of both varieties. A common theme runs through the underground of Vale, if it exists, money can buy it. Although most of this comes from Mistral, a fair amount comes from Vacuo as well. There are a number of gangs in Vale's underground, with the most notable being Roman Torchwicks gang, Smashing Pumpkins. Vale is ruled by what is known as the Council of Nine, most of the members are elected. The lone exception to the elections is a spot reserved for Beacons Headmaster. Vale is the only Kingdom without a standing army as the standing army Vale once had was folded into Atlas in exchange for Atlas defending Vale. Atlas has a few military bases in and around Vale with a small fleet defending Vales walls. This vacuum of power in the military space has lead to the rise of several PMCs. None are large enough to fully fill the gap of Vale's nonexistent army but they do help out whenever a wave of Grimm crash upon Vales walls." Neo rants off the top of her head.

"I feel like I just got a lecture… Why do you know all of that?" I ask, confused again.

"I paid attention to uncle Roman." Neo cheerfully explains.

"Wait, Roman, as in the Roman Torchwick you mentioned in your rant?" I smuggly ask.

Neo's taken back by how quickly I put that together. "Umm, yes…?"

"Why did you pose that as a question?" I press.

'I've managed to catch her off guard, I just need to press to try to get her or Torchwick to train me.'

"I-I'm sorry, you caught me off guard. Yeah, Roman is my uncle. Though, don't go spouting that off everywhere. I'd like to be able to walk the streets of Vale without fear of getting into a high speed chase. Again." Neo explains.

Deciding not to press on the high speed chase part, at least not yet, "What, exactly, does Roman do anyway? Besides the gang that is."

"Roman does heists, everything from little Dust shops to the Vale Central Bank. If a shop or bank exists, Roman has probably done a heist against it at some point."

"You know," Neo humms, "I like you, your not a hardass like the Atlesians that I've known."

"Why do you assume I'm Atlesian?" I question.

"The skivvy shirt." Neo snaps.

A muted ahh comes from me before Neo continues, "You have a good physique, you're funny, and I did hear that passing comment earlier about wanting to marry me."

'I know where this is going… And I am a-okay with this development.'

"Do you want to go out with me?" Neo finishes.

"Yes. Yes. Yes? Yes." I fumble out the words.

'Sheesh, if all women in Remnant are this forward I can expect to get my own little harem going. Maybe. We'll see.'

Neo on the other hand is giddy, while I am still stunned by how blunt she was about that whole "I want to fuck you" kind of thing. I did note she put my body first over my personality though. I'm overthinking this. I just got an Ice Cream themed psychopath as a girlfriend. On day one of being on Remnant no less. Great start, Z! For once no sarcasm this time!

While I'm trying to sort out the repercussions of my actions, Neo gets a call on her Scroll.

"Hello?" a pause, "Hi Roman!" another pause, "Yeah, yeah, I didn't forget." another pause, "Okay, Roman. Oh! Before I go, do you remember the guy who teleported into my apartment? Yeah, him. He woke up today! I'm just happy he wasn't asleep for a few days." a pause, "He's actually really chill, he barely batted an eye when I told him you were a criminal!"

A muffled "WHAT?!" comes from the scroll.

"Don't worry, he doesn't seem the type to snitch."

"You know this Roman guy doesn't sound too bad." I state.

"He isn't, he's just caught on the wrong side of the law." Neo tells me as she walks into her room and returns with her parasol.

"Yeah, I'm on the way Roman." Neo hangs up before turning to me. "Stay here, I've got 'business' to do."

"Okay, sweetie!"

"Ass." Neo replies before walking out the door.

'Now, what?'

Seems to be the question of my life. I guess I could explore Remnants internet? Sure, that sounds good. I remember a computer in the bedroom…

After what feels like a few minutes, It's actually been hours, but don't mind that. I've stumbled across some good information on Remnant, like Pseudo Aura Generators. The precursor to actually generating an Aura, like found in Penny, the PAG is primarily used to draw Grimm away from settlements and into traps. These are, however, illegal to own by civilians. Huntsmen don't use them due to them being able to flare their own Aura to attract Grimm. These are the reasons that only the militaries of Remnant uses PAGs.

But, when Neo returns, I'm looking through a 3d weapon designer. I'm currently stuck between a Katana/revolver hybrid and a Naginata Dust caster.

"Whatcha doing?" Neo questions while leaning on my shoulder. It doesn't take a genius to realise her breasts are almost in my face.

"I'm currently thinking about my weapon choice." I explain.

"What for?" Neo asks innocently.

"I'm down for joining on big heists, like what you and Roman did tonight." I carefully explain.

I wasn't technically lying, as I did keep an eye on the news as Neo did say she was going to help Roman with something. That something was a drug deal gone horribly wrong. They burned down a warehouse before everything got settled.

"So, what? You want to be muscle while I'm eye candy?" Neo teases.

"If, you're down for that." I tease back.

"I would think you would be better suited for infiltration, although Roman has a better eye than I do for talent." Neo says, suddenly semi serious again.

"Speaking of Roman, where is he?" I question.

"Right behind you, kid."

I nearly jump out of my chair at Romans voice. "Jeez, anybody teach you to not sneak up on people like that?" I ask sarcastically.

"Nope, I was taught to sneak up on people like that." Roman says, matching my level of sarcasm.

'Should have guessed…'

"But, Neos right, you would do better as a silent heister." Roman says as he reaches over my other shoulder and takes control of the mouse.

"And for a silent heister," Roman continues, "you need a similarly silent weapon. The Katana is a good starting point and the revolver, while loud, has unmatched stopping power in the pistol category."

Roman clicks on the order button and a confirmation prompt comes up.

"Is this all, kid?" Roman endearingly asks.

I nod. Roman nods in confirmation and clicks 'yes'.

"Alright kid, this will be getting here in a few days. Meanwhile, I'm going to be teaching you how to be a good thief." Roman states, as if I have much of a choice.

"You seem to be really forward with me, Roman. Might I ask why?" I ask Roman.

"You've managed to catch the eye of my little Neo." Roman says with a sly grin on his face.

"I'm not little! I'm 24!" Neo shouts in an annoyed tone.

"Say that to the height difference, shortstack." Roman replied back sharply.

Neo doesn't have a verbal response to this and just gives a pout instead.

"Plus, Neo thinks you're gonna be pretty good at this thief thing we got going. And I think the same." Roman says confidently.

"When do we start?" I question.

"Now." Roman pulls out a lock from one of the desk droors, "The first thing about lock picking is that you got to keep a steady hand…"


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N Hi! First off thanks for reading the first chapter and making it here. I have a few things I need to tell you, the reader. One, this is my first fanfic and as such it might have some weird pacing. Two, I don't plan on becoming OP at least not yet. I already have a few things prepared, okay, a lot of things prepared. Three, I have made some changes to canon RWBY, mostly because its kinda stupid to have such glaring weaknesses that are just overlooked like the CCTS. Four, this is my perspective of a roleplay campaign I'm running, I won't be running into the party anytime soon but I do plan on being a rival to them using an alter ego I come up with in this chapter. Five, I will be giving kinda large blocks of lore whenever applicable or just when I'm doing research. I have 9 pages on JUST LORE FOR FUCKS SAKE. But I digress. Six, For those of you wondering what system I'm using for the campaign, I'm using the RWBY Unofficial Tabletop RPG created by Andrew Diederich. Go check it out! He has a reddit page for it that you can find if you just google RWBY roleplay system, its the reddit page. Seven, I am borrowing a lot of world building from other fanfics, the biggest contributors are The Name of the Game, and Remnants of Another World. Check them out! Eight, I'm going to be trying for weekly updates, but if all else fails, I will be uploading at minimum every two weeks. That should be everything… So without further ado, enjoy the chapter!)

It's been about a week since getting literally dropped into Remnant, since then I've been getting more acquainted with some of the nuances of Remnant compared to Earth. Aura and Dust being the biggest differences. And Grimm, but I shouldn't have to deal with any yet. Regardless, Romans training is hard. The only thing I have that can even compare would be JROTC back in my freshman year of High School. He hasn't taught me any combat yet, just how to steal, Roman style.

There are a few things Rooster Teeth doctored with the release version of RWBY or just never mentioned. Like, take Aura for example. Aura is commonly used by Huntsmen and Aura Healers. Aura is used mostly to protect the user and heal any minor to medium injuries although a strong enough Aura can regrow lost limbs. Aura has many ways to be boosted but the most common is using your Aura to heal someone else. This is known as an Aura Transfusion. Aura Transfusions are admittedly rare as its used as a last ditch effort to save someone. The transfusion always results in completely random side effects for both donor and recipient. Another common use of Aura is to boost ones physical capabilities by channeling Aura to the part of the body that needs boosting. For example, channeling Aura to the legs to jump higher. Aura is also used to unlock the power within Dust. Aura has one last common use. That being Semblances. Semblances are, to put it bluntly, superpowers based off of the users personality. All of these upsides must have a few downsides. Those being Aura eats calories like there is no tomorrow and makes the user a beacon to any Grimm. Studies have shown that simply awakening your Aura will increase your daily calorie intake by 1000 calories. That's your BMR. As most people who use Aura are Huntsmen, they tend to eat roughly 4000 - 5000 calories a day. Aura does have a "hibernation mode" as Huntsmen like to call it. It is basically relocking your Aura for a set amount of time. There are a few ways to unlock ones Aura, intense training, a life threatening situation, or someone else unlocking it for you.

That felt weird. Huh, now I know how Neo felt earlier this week. Anyway, today's a special day as my weapon is arriving. Hopefully. Any minute now.

The doorbell goes off in Neo's apartment. Getting up and walking over to the door, I take a quick peek through the doorscope (A/N yes, I had to google that) to see… nothing. Well, nothing of interest at any rate. I undo the lock and open the door to greet the package waiting for me. And there's no package.

"Neo? That you?" I ask while turning back towards the couch to see Neo ripping open a box. Wait, thats my Box!

"Neo~, give me my box, babe~." Neo obliges me by throwing the box, now empty, at me.

'What I do for love…' I sigh as I make my way to the couch with Neo. She's holding a black katana/revolver hybrid. The katana has a dragon motif along the blade. What? I thought it looked cool. And I'm not purposely ripping off Genji. Neo also puts it through its transformation, which is the blade simply shifting out of the way for the barrel of the revolver, before putting it back to sword mode.

Taking the katana to hold it for myself, I take a few practice swings before tossing the box into the air and cutting it in half.

"Not bad, I could get used to this." I idly wonder how much this costed as my gaze shifts to the sheath. The sheath actually reminds me of Adam's in a vague tangential sort of way. That might have something to do with the fact Adam's weapon is a katana. But my attention again shifts to another box, one I hadn't seen earlier. Neo is prying this box open as well. This is starting to get old, and when the non-descript winter holiday rolls around I'm beginning to suspect Roman has to hide her presents in order to keep her from spoiling the surprise.

While that thought runs its course in my mind, Neo pulls out what's within the box. It's a black, no wait, deep blue suit with what looks to be harnesses on the chest.

Neo holds the suit up to herself and asks, "Babe, what do you think?"

"I don't think it would fit you… It looks too long for your tiny legs." I tease.

"Hey!" Neo lets out a huff.

"Don't get mad at me for telling the truth." I state defensively.

"I know, I know…" Neo states dejectedly.

I take the suit from Neo's hands and put it up against myself.

"It looks like it'll fit me, you reckon Roman got it alongside the katana?" I ask.

"Probably, Roman was always the one to think ahead." Neo… actually being serious? I never thought I would see the day.

"Is there anything else inside the box?" I question.

Instead of answering, Neo just reaches in and pulls out a helmet. The helmet in question is a full head covering helmet, in the same color scheme as the suit. There are a number of visible features on the helmet itself, like a built in flashlight. But putting on the helmet reveals a whole suite of other features, like a HUD, an Aura meter that looks really reminiscent to the shields from Halo, an active radar system, a basic electronic warfare suite, and…

"Hello!"

"AHHH, WHAT THE FUCK?!" I throw the helmet is surprise.

"Babe, you good? What happened?" Neo asks worriedly.

"Umm, did the helmet just talk to me?" I mumble mostly to myself. Hey, my voice likes to carry even when I mumble.

Going over to where I threw the hemet, I pick it up, inspect for any damage, then put it on again.

"Hello! I am Flyss, your Smart Helm(™) assistant. I will be helping you to set up the Smart Helm(™), and from there assist in anything you may require of me!" Flyss helpfully explains.

"Huh, so Neo," She humms her acknowledgements,"the helmet did speak to me. Well, not the helmet per say, but the AI in the helmet. She called herself Flyss. ...Apparently I have my own adjudant." I attempt to put the AIs information into words.

"Now _thats_ cool." Thanks Neo, for stating the obvious.

"Yep, remind me to thank Roman next time I see him." I state in a slightly sarcastic tone.

Seeing as Neo doesn't respond, I turn to face Roman standing behind me, again. I consider myself fairly perceptive and hard to sneak up on! How does he keep doing this? I thought I locked the front door? Actually, he might have a key to Neo's apartment. If not, he probably just picked the lock. Or came in through the window. Or he's been here the whole time… that last ones just creepy.

"Well? I'm waiting for that 'Thanks' you know." Roman says with a shit eating grin.

"Thaaaaaanks." I state with the most sarcasm I can muster.

"Neo, there's still something else in that box." Roman warns as I turn around to see Neo about to toss the box out. Neo, confused, shows the empty box to us. I realise what Romans done however. I reach in and tear out the false bottom to reveal a knife. Wait, is that…? Holy shit, it is. That is a data knife straight from Titanfall.

"I don't see what's so special about the knife, Roman." Neo states, oblivious to the fact that this is going to be SO HELPFUL!

"If you don't, it appears your 'hubby' does." Roman states slyly.

"Roman." I state seriously, "You glorious bastard, I could kiss you." I state while a massive grin stretches across my face.

I had done my research. These things are damn expensive and extremely rare. I haven't the faintest clue how the hell Roman got his hands on one. While I prefer the Icepick variant of the data knife, the normal data knife is still extremely useful. Actually the Icepick variant is technically illegal. Only technically. Not that we care in the slightest. Now that I think about it, I'm actually really close to being a Pilot from Titanfall. I'm just missing the parkour kit and a Titan.

"I know that helmet has some hacking gear in it, but I thought a little something directly from the factory line would be better." Roman states.

"I'm still confused, what is it?" Neo asks innocently. Can a psychopath be innocent?

"Neo, _this_ ," I raise the knife. " _This_ , is a data knife. It's only the top of the line in electronic warfare used by Atlas's special operatives!"

"You see Neo? He gets it!" Roman exclaims.

"Okay? I get it's expensive, but how does it work?" Neo asks, still confused by Roman and I's excitedness.

Deciding against a verbal answer, I hit a button on the handle which extends the connector and show it to Neo. She takes a moment to inspect the knife.

"So, do you just stab it into a computer and it just works?" Neo questions.

"Yeah!" I exclaim while nodding vigorously.

"Well, it obviously hacks things, but what does the hacking do?" Neo continues her questioning.

"It depends on what's being hacked, for example, if I'm hacking an Atlesian Knight it will change its friend/foe targeting software to target its former friends. If I'm hacking a computer, it will give me access to its files and allow me to transfer them to the helmet, hopefully." I explain, while a separate thought is running through my head.

'What about the helmet? Can I link it to my data knife? Or my suit? Maybe both? Things to test I suppose.' I wonder absentmindedly.

Neo's voice snaps me from my thoughts, "Hellooooo…?"

"Got lost in my thoughts again… What are you doing?" I ask.

Neo is staring me in the face, she shouldn't be able to as I am six foot and she is somewhere around four foot eight. Sighing, I flick Neo's forehead, causing her to shatter. That reveals Neo, at her normal height, standing on a chair.

"Neo, I know you like being tall, but I'll always be taller." I tease.

Neo gives a pout as I muss her hair.

"Okay, lovebirds, we get it. Can we get to the next part of training?" I forgot Torchwick was still in the room.

"What's the next part of training?" I ask as I lift Neo off the chair to put her on the ground. Neo's surprisingly light by the way.

"Combat." Roman explains without really explaining anything.

(Line Break)

Suited up in what amounts to spandex with a sword on your back and a very expensive helmet, I actually look kinda good. Like Genji if he wasn't painted silver and actually stealthy. Just standing in the shadows of this warehouse makes me really hard to see. That's just the suit breaking up my silhouette. Although, it does look like somethings missing. That'll need to be fixed soon.

I'm currently watching two of the grunts in Torchwicks gang sparring, no weapons, and they are really going at it. Its like watching the David versus Goliath fight considering one of them are large enough to wrestle an Ursa. About as nimble as an Ursa too.

"The larger man is losing."

A sigh, "I know Flyss." I state.

This isn't the first spar I've seen today. Actually the first one I saw was a group brawl between a number of them. Roman had to break that one up. I've never seen him truly mad before. He can be absolutely scathing when he tries to.

"Alright, Shiro, you're up." Roman announces.

(A/N Ill be fast, I am rolling this in accordance with the unofficial RPG guide)

Nodding my acknowledgements at the alter ego I created, I head down to the arena. Across from me is the man who won the previous spar.

"Hey, before we begin, I'd like to let you know that you're already something of a legend among the Pumpkins here. Catching Neopolitan's eye at first glance is no small feat." I raise an eyebrow at that, despite the fact he can't see it. "A number of the men here have tried, and failed, to win her heart. I'll take pleasure in beating you senseless here." As he finishes he pulls out a tonfa.

"You done? I'd like to get onto the next idiot sometime this week." I taunt.

He merely growls in response.

"Begin!" Torchwick announces from his position above the arena.

I let him start off the fight by charging me. It appears my taunting worked. I sidestep the elbow he throws at me and give him enough of a love tap on the back of the neck to throw him off balance. He throws the other elbow as I dodge out of the way.

"My turn." I tell him as I _draw_. He blocks it using the tonfa. I swing again, aiming lower this time and graze his leg.

"Gonna have to do better than that!" He taunts.

"I've actually hit you so far!" I rebuke.

He jabs with his non tonfa hand, only for it to pay as I smack it with the blunt end of Odenta. Yes, I named my weapon. He throws the tonfa elbow next, only for that to be swatted as well. Now that his assault is broken again, I press my advantage. He redirects the first swing, but I break the melee and go at range. The revolver cracks across the arena and hits him, just grazing his arm.

"Really? Resorting to guns? What happened to our melee?" He taunts again.

"I was winning that melee, and you know it." I counter.

As he doesn't have a gun, he charges me again. He throws a haymaker that I see coming from a mile away. Ducking under the punch, I slice upwards, only grazing him again. I'm still getting used to the length of this, okay? That's what Neo said. He tries for a kick at my legs, seeing this I counter with my own kick to his kneecap. Taking the opportunity as his guard is down, I swing in a downwards stroke getting a good hit on his aura. I try to fit another attack into this opening, but it closes as fast as it came as his guard is back up for the second swing.

"That actually hurt, you know. Now, I WILL HUMILIATE YOU!" He shouts at me.

"Bring it on, buttercup." I taunt. I note that his aura rises to just under half, thanks to my handy helmet.

He throws two more punches with a lot more anger behind them. Tsk, anger will only blind you. They are countered no problem. Eyeing a gap in his defense I swing twice more, the first one deflected off the tonfa, while the second blow sneaks through his guard and shatters his aura.

"I don't want to have to knock you out here, you still have work to do for your boss." I reason.

"I DON'T CARE!" He shouts at me. Jeez, what's got him so riled up? Oh wait, it's me.

Another flurry of punches and he manages to sneak a good hit to my torso. I mean, aura absorbed it, but ow. Ow does it hurt. Aura might negate any damage done, but it does _nothing_ for the force behind the attack. Deciding to end it here, I catch a break in his flurry and strike with the flat end of Odenta. The strike is true as it hits him square on the head, knocking him out.

"Good. Jim, go get sack of rocks there." Roman commands. I on the other hand, leave the arena and join Roman on the catwalks above the arena.

"So," I begin, "What do you think?"

"Not bad for a beginner, but you will need some work. Like that stunt with your revolver, if this building wasn't sound proofed, we could be expecting blue shirts right about now." Roman analizes.

I'm kinda proud of how well I did, although he's right, I will need to improve in melee if I want to be able to take down guards should it come to it. While I'd rather be in and out like a ghost, that won't always happen. I am happy I took some fencing classes in my previous life (dying is still weird to me) as I doubt I could have won without the basic swordplay I learned there.

There's a loud snap that comes from the arena, which reminds me I need to be watching the spars. And that guys arm is _not_ supposed to bend like that and he's still fighting? Crazy man.

(Line Break)

Stretching as I enter the living room of Neos apartment, there's a third box on the coffee table with a note on it. Interested, I look at the note, which reads, 'Z, It's been bothering me that you don't have a scroll! This fixes that! I've taken the liberty to add myself and Romans number to your contacts. -Neo'

'Well that's nice of her. I wonder what she put her contact name as… Hold on, there's more to the note.' I interrupt my own thoughts to continue reading.

'PS. I've also removed the stupid tracker that's on all of these things.

PPS. There's also a date in your calendar, be sure to check it!'

I open the box, and sure enough, there is a scroll. Scrolls have an interesting blend of Iphone, Samsung, and Android software on them. Actually, it's the same OS that the computer in our room uses. It's not at all hard to understand, but I check through all of the preinstalled apps anyway for anything of interest and to familiarize myself with the software. There's the usual things, like an app store, calendar, clock, things like that. There's even a few pre installed games, like some bejeweled clone. I do make a trip to the contacts list and Roman has been plugged in as 'Roman Torchwick' but Neo is in as 'Ice Ice Neo'. It's a bad joke, but it still gets me to chuckle. Checking the calendar next, I do see the date that has been put in. It's… interesting.

'Fun Time w/ Neo!' At 7pm, a few days from now.

There's a few things that could mean. One, sex. Two, we're going out to dinner. Three, we're going out to steal or murder. Possibly all of the above or any combination of those three. Thoughts for the future I guess. Sleep now. Tired.

I don't even make it to the bed before passing out.


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N sorry for the huge author note last time, I have one thing to ask this time, would you guys like to see lemons in this? I know there are going to be at absolute minimum implied lemons, but would y'all be interested in proper lemons? Small disclaimer, I have never written lemons before in my life, so the first few might be rough. But without further ado, enjoy the chapter!)

It turns out the 'Fun Time w/ Neo' was going out clubbing, after getting me some more clothes. Hey, I only had one set of proper clothes. Regardless, Neo and I drop by The Bears Den, or Juniors club. Evidently, Neo had been here before as the guards out front seem scared of her. Not that I mind. More drinks for us!

I had never been a fan of super loud music. Don't get me wrong, some music is better loud, just not most of it. Nor was I a good dancer. Neo didn't seem to mind when I stepped on her feet. Then again, Aura. It turns out Neo is silent only in public, that includes the gang, because she "has an image to keep," whatever that means.

I've had a few drinks at this point. Neo drinks like a fish out of water, at least when challenged. Apparently, some regular challenges her to a drinking contest every time she shows at Juniors club. That was a real treat to watch, and I was cheering Neo on the entire time, duh.

Neo, drunk, is sitting in my lap, trying her best to stay upright. It's actually adorable to watch. But I notice a _bear_ of a man walk up to us. Get it? Xiong is bear in Chinese, sheesh. Er, Mistrali? I need to do some more research.

"Hey, you Junior?" I ask in my lightly drunken haze.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" The man, now Junior in my mind, gruffly replies.

"Torchwick should have called ahead, I'm Shiro." I truthfully answer, extending my hand.

Junior takes my hand into a strong handshake, not enough to hurt but enough to know he could probably snap some bones with his fingers. "Junior, it appears we're going to be working together for a while."

"Yeah, I had heard something about a," I drop my voice a bit here, not that much though as we're practically yelling to just be able to hear each other, "black market app?"

"You've got Torchwick's personal seal of approval, as much as I don't like the guy personally, he's one of the best criminals in Vale. I can hook you up with the app, I just need to see your scroll."

Obliging him, he takes the scroll into a back room for a bit before coming back and putting the scroll down on the counter.

"Okay, the first thing you need to do with the app is make an account, now don't go using your real name, I've seen more than a few do that and get snuffed out real quick." Junior, thank you for being helpful. I was going to put Shir0 in there anyway.

The Black Market app is sorta kinda similar to Amazon back on Earth. Minus the big drone push. But looking through some of the menus after setting up my account, there are a number of cool gadgets. Like Icepick data knives, actual hoverboards, hard light tech, nanobots, that helmet Roman got me, and a number of other things that look really cool. There's also an option to be a runner for the app, which is basically a glorified delivery boy under the cover of night. I hold off on choosing on the runner bit, as I still need to confirm if Roman will pay me.

Sometime during my look through the app Neo fell asleep. I don't blame her, after drinking that much alcohol.

"Well, Junior, It's nice to meet you, but I need to get Neo here home. I've enjoyed myself, and I look forward to working with you in the future." I say while hefting Neo into my arms bridal style.

"Yeah, yeah, go get your girlfriend home." Junior tries to tease.

"You heard the news, I take it." I retort while I walk off. I kinda wish I could see the look on his face however, I bet it's priceless.

(Line Break)

Waking up the next morning, I say morning, it's really like eight at night already. I see Neo with the glass of water I set out on the bed stand in nothing more than her panties, giving me a wonderful view of her breasts. Apparently even Aura has a hard time with that much alcohol.

"Morning babe." Neo greets curtly.

"Mhmm." I respond tiredly.

I attempt to go back to sleep but a knocking at our bedroom door throws that plan out the window.

"Neo!" Roman yells through the door. "We need to go!"

"Another heist?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I'm too hung-the-fuck-over to do it. Can you go for me? Shouldn't be too hard for you." Neo responds.

"Sure." I state while getting out of bed.

Roman is fucking insistent that we go now. I finish getting ready, minus the helmet but I plan to put that on on the way over. When I come walking out of the bedroom, there's Roman and one of his goons, Jim I think.

"Neo! Finally! We can… You're not Neo." Roman confusedly states.

"Neo's too hungover, so I'm covering. Time to put that stealth training to use, eh?" I explain with a smirk.

"You two went to Juniors didn't you…?" Roman asks, likely rhetorically.

"Yep!" I cheerfully answer. I think Neo is rubbing off on me. Not like that. Not yet.

Roman gives a solid facepalm, I think if he didn't have Aura he'd have just broken his nose.

"Well, Neo, when hungover, has a hard time using her semblance. It'd be about the same as if we didn't have her along for the ride." Torchwick offhandedly mentions. "Let's get going then, this museum isn't going to rob itself!" Roman finishes.

(Line Break)

I haven't actually taken the time to just take in Vale as it is. This is a good a time as any. Might help with the jitters anyway. Vale looks kinda like Victorian London but with a sci-fi twist to it. It's actually really pretty and surprisingly lively, even at this time of night. I suppose it helps when everyone that isn't important to the story isn't just black blurs in the background.

We're riding in a black sedan that Roman apparently owns. Leaning back in the leather seat, I pull out my scroll and connect it to my helmet. Turning on the music playlist I have been rebuilding since losing my old one on Earth, I put on the helmet.

"We're here" A gruff voice, Jim, states.

We step out of the sedan, "Good, remember the plan. We're here for the Father of Liberty, nothing else." Roman reminds the goons now surrounding us.

The plan is simple, Roman and the goons wait outside while I go in and disable alarms and guards along the way to the statue. Once that's done, the goons go in and take the statue, we all get out and high tail it out of there.

I spent some of the ride actually looking through the notes Roman took on this museum and added any camera locations he flagged as being issues onto my hud, guard patrol routes, that sort of thing. As my hud flickers to life and Flyss gives the "All systems operational." I make my move.

Opening a window outside of guard and camera sight wasn't hard as It had all been mapped ahead of time. I glance at my map, my target is on the second floor. I sigh to myself and begin moving. Making my way to the security room, without dealing with any guards, not yet anyway. I open the door slowly. The guard watching the cameras is sitting with his legs propped up on the console, cup of coffee in hand. I sneak up on the guard, who had his back to me, and pistol whip him on the back of the head.

'He's gonna have a hell of a headache when he wakes up' I muse.

I pull the plug, literally, on the cameras. I also make sure to switch the power switch to off just to give us a few more seconds.

I put a hand to my helmet and give Roman a quick call, "The cameras are down, guards are going to be rotating off duty soon. I'll deal with those before they make it to their posts."

Roman gives some form of confirmation. While waiting on the guard rotation, I tie up the poor sap who got camera duty using some duct tape I found in his desk. We struck tonight because the camera guy didn't rotate at all tonight, so take him out and the cameras go unmanned the whole night.

Catching more than a few guards off guard (heh) on their way to their posts and adding them to the growing pile of unconscious bodies on the security room, I give Roman the go ahead to move in with the goons.

The rest of the heist went off without a hitch, the goons didn't drop the statue, none of the guards got in the way, the cameras have been down, that kinda thing. I did get a look at the statue, it depicts a man in a roman style toga handing a lit torch to a kneeling female figure that looks a lot like the Statue of Liberty from New York City. That was loaded into the black van that had been following the sedan while Roman and I got into the sedan in question.

"So," I begin, "Why did we steal this statue? Is it just money or a favor to someone or what?"

"If you're wondering if you're gonna get paid, don't worry. You will be paid. But to answer your question, somebody wanted this statue and paid a lot of money for it." Roman answers.

"Who is this 'someone'." I press.

"He goes by the name of Merlot, some high society science person." Roman explains.

I can fucking feel the record scratch in my head, literally as my music playlist has a piece that uses a record scratch as a bass drop. I think. I'm not super well versed in music, especially the techno thing I'm listening to.

"Wait, Merlot, as in Merlot Industries?" I question.

"...Nope, never heard of it." Roman states.

"You've never heard of Merlot Industries... " I throw my hands up in the universal "I give up" hand sign.

"A formerly major industrial powerhouse. Owned and run by Dr. Merlot, they quickly rose to prominence within Vale before moving Headquarters to Mountain Glenn. After the Collapse of Mountain Glenn, it was discovered that Dr. Merlot was experimenting on Humans, Faunus, and Grimm alike. It was also uncovered that Dr. Merlot deployed and activated a few PAGs around Mountain Glenn to, quote, "get more test subjects." Dr. Merlot was instrumental in several breakthroughs, in fields like Artificial Intelligence, and Genetics, along with others. And you're telling me you never heard of them?" That sounded far nerdier than I intended.

"I have now." Roman sarcastically states.

I roll my eyes, "Didn't you hear what I said? Merlot caused the fall of Mountain Glenn!"

"So? He's paid good money for this statue. And while I might be a scoundrel, I at least follow through on my word. I told him I would get it, he paid me, I have the statue now, and next thing is to hand it off to him." Roman rebutts.

"At least are you keeping an eye on him? And his movements? He caused a city to fall to the Grimm! Who's to say he won't do it again? If Vale falls, what will happen to your business?" I reason.

Roman takes a moment and just looks at me before, "I should keep an eye on him if what you're telling me is true. While I don't doubt I could get started again in another Kingdom, I'm currently kind of invested in Vale and Vale falling would not be conducive to my business, as you put it." Roman turns to Jim, who's driving us back to the warehouse, "Jim, find the sneakiest guy in the gang and get him tailing this Merlot guy. Have him start once we hand off that statue."

"Yes sir." Jim curtly states. That felt almost military, ugh flashbacks.

(Line Break)

It's a few days later. And I've done more research! Today's spotlight is Semblances! Based off of Aura, Semblances are unique from person to person. Some being really simple, like telekinesis, or really complicated like Neo's Semblance. Since they are so wide in variety, there's no real limits to what a Semblance could be. Most people only have one semblance, but it is possible to have two or even more. The world record for the most semblances was set by Callum Jackson, with 13. He died three years ago. There are a few ways to get several semblances. The most common is having multiple personalities. Why this is is currently unknown. The next most common, and the last baring extreme circumstances, is having an exceptionally strong soul. There are ways to unlock your semblance sooner than a life-or-death situation, the "Murder Course", as its nicknamed by Huntsmen in Training. The "Murder Course" consists of hellish training regime, regularly risking your life in the safest way possible, and actual torture. The upside to this is, as soon as you discover your semblance, the course is over. Downside; literal torture.

That always feels weird to sum up a few days of research in about a paragraph. Anyway, Today's the day of handing the statue to Merlot. Roman and I are waiting in Forever Fall forest, near the secret docks that Merlot has here with the guy Jim picked out to follow Merlot home.

I'm sitting under a tree looking through the black market app for anything that catches my eye, Roman is tinkering with Melodic Cudgel in the middle of the clearing. We had been here a few hours by this point and Neo has been texting me saying "When are you getting back?" and "I want cuddles!". It's kind of adorable seeing her frustrated by Merlot's tardiness.

Our wait finally ends with an old man with white hair, a glowing red eye - labeled as cybernetic thanks to my helmet - and some good looking facial hair. He's clad in a white lab coat with some red undershirt peeking out at the neck. He's flanked by two robots, both painted red and wielding Glaives modified with an extra blade on the reverse end of the weapon. I can't tell which side is up on this thing.

"Torchwick," Merlot begins, "It seems you _are_ a man of your word."

Roman looks up from Melodic Cudgel, "I told you I was. Now, my payment?"

"Allow me to inspect the statue first, then we shall see to your payment." Merlot slyly states. I hate his voice already, I did back when I was playing Grimm Eclipse and I was hoping I wouldn't here, but alas. I give a look at Roman as he shoots me a look and nods. I pull the tarp off of the statue and allow Merlot to get a closer look. I have a closer look at the robots he has. They are really well designed, armor covering all the important bits, full range of movement for the polearms, what looks to be a sophisticated detection suite in a semi vulnerable location - the head - and reinforced joints. These things are clearly designed for combat and while I don't doubt I could kill Merlot here, these robots would tear me to shreds. Like they did in Grimm Eclipse.

"Well, it's the real deal." Merlot states as another robot, this one painted white with a very big gun strapped to its back steps out holding a wooden crate before setting it before Roman. He opens the box carefully to reveal its stuffed with lien, and large denominations at that.

"Alright, the statue is all yours." Roman says while closing the box.

The robot guards put their weapons on their back while the white robot pulls its gun out. The red guards lift the statue and begin carrying it back the way they came.

"A pleasure doing business with you." Merlot says as he extends his cybernetic hand to shake, and Roman tentatively shakes his hand. Merlot then takes off after his guards.

"Well, that just happened." I state the obvious.

"You could say that again." Roman sarcastically states.

"Well, that ju-" I begin.

"I was being sarcastic, Zarek." Roman interrupts.

"So was I!" I shoot back at him.

"Lets get home, I bet Neo's getting antsy." Roman deadpans.

"Let's swing by the store on the way back, Neo ran out of ice cream again." I state simply.

(Line Break)

(A/N there will be a poll up on my account so please vote on if you want lemons in this fic. It will be open until the 15th of August.

A/N EDIT: Y'all are horny mother fuckers, Lemons it is then.)


	4. Chapter 4

(A/N well, you guys wanted it, Lemons are coming sometime. yay.)

I fall onto the couch in our apartment after the exchange with Merlot with a sigh. Normally I try to make it to our bedroom before attempting to go to sleep however, today was just a 'no' kind of day. Especially after dealing with Merlot. Can you tell I hate the guy?

Sighing again, I get up, put away the ice cream, and walk into our bedroom. I then change into comfy clothes - a t-shirt and sweats - and fall onto our bed. With my arms outstretched across the whole bed I notice a lack of a certain ice cream themed psychopath. I thought she wanted cuddles?

I open my eyes and scan the bedroom. Nothing out of the ordinary, other than Neo missing. Did she get stabby with a random civilian? I might have sexually frustrated her. Oops.

'I'm sorry random civie that got stabbed by Neo.' That was a morbid thought. Whatever.

Despite how non physically intensive today was, we were on business after all, I'm still exhausted. Not sleepy, but tired. Contrary to popular belief, sleepy and tired do not mean the same thing. Sleepy is yawning and falling asleep peacefully, while tired is ten cups of coffee and murder.

I barely notice Neo get back and join me in bed.

(Line Break)

I took the next day off and the one after that from stealing anything. It was mostly just Neo and I lazing around and making good on those cuddles I promised earlier. The third day is where things get interesting.

"I'll ask again, Kid, do you really want to go through the Murder Course?" Roman asks again.

"I'll answer again, yes. I'm fully prepared to do this." I answer again, my mind totally made up. (A/N DAMMIT PSYCHIC MUSIC PLAYLIST, DOOMS WELCOME TO HELL IS TOO APPROPRIATE)

"Alright… First up is do you have a speed semblance." Roman points to the other end of the warehouse, "You have ten seconds to make it there." Roman finishes.

'And so it begins…this'll hurt.'

(Line Break)

About a week through the Murder Course, and I don't have any common semblances… Yay. that means I have either a mental semblance or an unorthodox one. At least this next week won't be too physically intensive.

I push the thought aside and sit next to Neo on the couch.

"Babe," I hum my acknowledgements, "how has this last week been?" Neo asks.

"Hell." I simply reply.

Neo turns to face me, "I tried to talk you out of it." Neo states.

I turn to kiss Neo on the forehead, "I know, but semblances are too useful to not have as soon as possible." I retort.

"There are a class of semblances the Murder Course doesn't cover, you know." Neo informs me.

I give a questioning look, "And that would be?" I say, rising to the obvious bait.

"Sexual semblances." Neo simply states.

I blink once, then again, "What." I say, though it came out closer to "Wat."

Neo gives a "You heard me" look.

"You heard me." There it is.

(A/N here's you guys first lemon from me)

If I get a sex semblance, I'm first going to thank whatever Gods Remnant has, wait those are the Two Brothers. Eh, anyway. Next I would… I don't know actually, nor do I get to figure it out now as Neo kinda just _shatters,_ revealing she's naked. Well, almost. She is wearing her panties, no bra though. Actually, does Neo even wear clothes? Or is that all her Semblance? Thoughts for later. I know it's rude, but I just stare at her beauty. The panties are a nice rose pink, just covering her womanhood. Heading up from there, past her toned stomach, her breasts are large, yet tight, with small pink nipples placed just on the tips. That gives her breasts a nice almost teardrop shape. I stare at her bare chest a moment before sliding back down to her hips again. Passing over her pink panties, her thighs and ass are plump with minimal stretch lines. Altogether, Neo is very curvy for a woman her size.

"Well…? What are you waiting for~?" Neo asks seductively.

"Seems to be a recurring question today." I snark at her while throwing off the combat suit.

"Like what you see?" I ask, matching her level of seductiveness as I watch her eyes go half lidded (how I presume I looked while looking at her body). Although, instead of letting her finish her look over my body, which has been building muscle, I make the first move. Side note; yay for no longer being a glorified pool noodle!

I close on Neo and push her onto her back. She gives a small gasp as she hits the couch, while I go to town. Starting with her breasts. I give those small nipples a tweak, getting a favorable response from Neo. Humming, I move closer. My covered dick to her covered pussy, I begin the grind. While doing that, I lean in for a tender kiss. Although, to my surprise, she wraps her arms around me and gives me an intense kiss, her way of saying "get on with it". I take my remaining hand off of her breasts (I needed the support to lean over her) and throw off the underwear, revealing my dick standing at full salute. Using that same hand, I slide her panties to the side and continue to tease her by continuing the friction just minus the underwear from both of us.

Neo huffs in annoyance before sharply thrusting her hips, forcing me to penetrate her. Laughing softly into the kiss, I begin fucking her properly. Starting with a steady in and out that feels amazing for me, and evidently for Neo too, considering the sounds she's making. I idly note the pain in my back, and it's not Neo's nails digging into it, she's tiny and I have to arch my back in order to fuck her pussy and kiss her at the same time.

Here's actually a little fuzzy for me, but I remember somehow making it to the bedroom. Neo managed to switch places with me during our transition to the bedroom. Now with her on top, she begins riding me at a pace I was slowly ramping up to, but didn't make it to before the move to bed. She breaks the kiss we had going (with openings for breathing of course) and lets out a moan right into my ear. My hands are roaming her body, looking for any spots that might be sensitive and lo and behold there's a spot right under both breasts that I barely pass over that tips her over the edge of what I had brought her to. With a gasp, Neo lets her inhibitions go and clamps down on my dick _hard,_ releasing her juices all over my cock. If I didn't know any better I'd say she works the pussy muscles out more than the rest of her body.

"Um, Neo?" I begin, "I'm stuck."

Neo tries to give a coherent response, but it merely comes out as ragged breathing and moaning. It takes a moment, but she gets out what she was trying to say.

"You haven't… Hah… Finished yet?" She asks.

"Nope." Despite it being my first time fully sensate throughout, I hadn't finished. Which is a surprise for me.

Neo hums and manages to relax enough to allow me to pull out. Neo directs me to sit on the edge of the bed and upon doing so takes my member into her mouth and begins sucking. Do I even need to say she's done this before? Well, I'm doing it anyway. She has sucked dick before. I was already pretty close when Neo came, it doesn't take long for me to finish.

(A/N lemons done, might have more in the future)

"That felt good." I state the obvious.

Neo swallows the rest then says, "That tasted good."

I blink at that, "What'd it taste like?" I ask, actually interested.

"Cherry, although considering your Aura color, it makes sense." Neo explains.

'So it's an Aura thing that makes my cum taste like cherry. Wonderful… Not that I mind, I actually like cherry. ...No, bad thought! Stop that!' I think to myself.

The door to the bathroom closes and the shower turns on. Well, Neo can go take her shower, I'm going to sleep.

(Line Break)

The following week was an attempt to see if I had a mental semblance, in the same vein as Emerald. Guess what? Nope. Meaning I have an unorthodox Semblance, which can be anything. Yay.

Now to the present, I'm strapped up to a table with my arms and legs spread and bound. Well I say table, it is a table, but its vertical and I'm hanging off of it.

"AAAAAAAARGH!"

Yeah, that's me. I just got electrocuted again. I wish I was Thor right about now. Or Nora.

"That… Really fuckin' hurts…" I state tiredly.

"That's the point, kid." Romans voice barely reaches my ears through the pain.

Another surge of electricity, another scream of pain. A thump. Cold.

'Huh? Shouldn't I still be on the table?' Tired thoughts are great.

As my vision returns, I'm face first on the ground. I try to get up but fall again.

"Good job kid, you got it." Roman.

I try to start but go into a coughing fit. It takes a moment but, "Got what?" I ask before realising, "That's not my voice…"

As more of my senses return to me, everything feels… off. The pants I am wearing is now too small, my hair is in my face more than usual, just all of it is off.

"Here." Roman states while handing me my scroll.

I look at the screen only for it to return heterochromatic eyes, pink and brown, with similarly colored hair. I frown, what's Neo doing here? The Neo in the screen mirrors my actions.

"Wait," I begin, " _That's_ my semblance? I'm a shapeshifter? If so… Then I can have some fun with _these._ " I muse aloud. Actually taking the chance to look over myself, I've shrunk down over a foot, got boobs now (Never thought I would say that), and no dick between my legs.

"Looks like it. You might want to put on a shirt though." Roman, just Roman, _why_.

Stumbling my way to the table with my gear on it, trying to get used to the breasts, and put on my shirt.

"Well Roman, I'm off to show Neo my new assets. Er, me my new assets? Considering I'm Neo right now? This is already confusing." I inform Roman.

"Don't have too much fun, we have another heist to get through tomorrow." Roman warns.

"I know, I know. You don't have to remind me on these things." I say as I leave the warehouse as myself, as opposed to Neo.

(Line Break)

(A/N Sorry for the short chapter this week, I will be getting a longer chapter next week to make up for it!)


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N Enjoy the extra long chapter this week! Side note, I might have to be shooting for biweekly uploads with school starting and work plus personal life but BARE MINIMUM I will be uploading once a month. And another side note, with the new season of RWBY coming out soonish, I am NOT changing my plans for Atlas even if everything somehow ends up canonically)

A little bit of testing with my new semblance shows I can have some serious fun messing with people. It turns out I can change _others_ with my semblance too, not just me. Neo ended up being me for a few minutes while I had to figure out how to reverse it. Another thing, I can become animals as well. There was a whole escapade of me being a mouse causing a number of health violations during a routine inspection of a poor bakery. Neo apparently is hard straight with one exception; herself. Yeah, that was a surprise to me too. Neo is into selfcest. That's gonna be fun later. To be nice, after the Neo is me thing, I gave her two inches. I mean, she's still tiny, but slightly less so, putting her at 4'8" without her heels.

Regardless I looked into dust over the course of the next week to see what I wanted. There's more on Dust than I initially expected. Nature's wrath in crystal form. It was from Dust mankind rose from the darkness. Using Dust mankind fought and pushed back the darkness. In the absence of darkness came civilisation and the light of the Kingdoms. Well, that's just an old story. Dust is actually more of a science than the magic it once was looked upon as. There are ten basic types of Dust, Burn, Earth, Wind, Water, Lightning (shock is slang for this), Force, Acid, Sonic, Freeze, and Light. There are also some exotic types like, Gravity, and Purity White. Dust is used to power literally anything that needs more power than a rock. Dust has 12 grades of effectiveness, one being the worst and commercially available to everyone, and grade 12 being the best and powering the Dreadnoughts of Atlas' fleet. Although the highest grade anybody usually gets their hands on are grade nine crystals, only given out in emergencies to Huntsmen one crystal at a time. There are rumors of a grade 13 crystal found out in Vacuo's desert before the crews working the mine mysteriously vanished. Dust usage isn't just limited to mixing and matching colors, Dust is also used in a number of rituals. Among these are Aura Enhancement, Sanctification, and Aura Shielding. All rituals require Purity White Dust, and a number of them work better if you fuck on top of them for the duration of the ritual (with breaks for food and naps). There's something about the intimacy of sex that enhances most rituals. Aura Enhancement boosts all participants Aura to the max their body can handle and as a result of the boosted Aura, Semblances are more powerful to burn off the excess Aura. Aura Enhancement is one of the you have to fuck on it to get the bonuses. Sanctification prevents Grimm from spawning in an area determined by the size of the Sanctification. But during the ritual, Grimm are drawn to the ritual site, so its best to have cleared the area before hand. Fucking on top of Sanctification makes the ritual last longer before expiring. Aura Shielding is basically a fire blanket for Aura. Aura still burns under it, but it's impossible to detect any Auras within the area of effect. Aura Shielding is one of the few you don't have to fuck on to get the best results, though it does make it easier.

Still feels weird to do that.

Anyway, I'm at From Dust till Dawn, browsing. What? I've got to scout out the area for when episode one happens so I can bail Romans ass out. It's a quaint little Dust shop. The old man is cleaning the counter, there's music playing softly (some orchestral piece) and a whole one other customer in the store with me. It's late, very late, as in does this old man even sleep? Seriously, his hours are from 6am to midnight. I had done my research (it took a while to actually find the specifics of the rituals, plenty of mentions though) and was wanting to buy some Dust. Then, the " _ding_ " of the doorbell goes off. I take a look at the front, and... what are they doing here?

For those of you not looking at what I'm looking at, It seems I'm not the only one from Earth. A team, from Beacon it looks like, just entered the shop. And I know every single one of them. (A/N these are NOT their real names, but this is the party) Megan, Jessica, Scotty (really Scott, but I call him Scotty), and Collin. I reiterate, what are they doing here? And why do they all look the same age? My mom, er Jessica for those who don't know, looks 17, acne and all. Scotty has hair. And Collin has less stubble than I remember.

I am thankfully disguised as a random guy, tall, black hair, silver eyes, and muscled (I'm not any stronger unfortunately). Taking an earbud out to listen, I begin browsing the magazines. I'm trying to be inconspicuous here, ok?

"You got the Dust ready for us?" a high baritone voice, Collin, asks.

The old man gives a "mhm hmm."

"Good, We've got a mission tomorrow and we needed to stock up." Collin continues.

I hear the clatter of Dust crystals cross the counter.

"What does this color Dust do?" Jessica, a middle alto, asks the old man.

"Ice Dust, it freezes things." Collin answers for the old man.

"Hmm… I'll hold off for now." Jessica states matter of factly.

I take a chance and look closer at them. Megan is in a combat skirt and blouse, she's also slimmed down significantly since I last saw her. Jessica is in loose jeans and a t-shirt, Scotty is in armor (which is a surprise to me) and Collin is in a Cadian guardsman uniform from Warhammer 40k with the helmet currently off and on his waist.

That seems to have been all for them, as they leave me and the one other customer in the store.

'Well, shit. That is going to throw a wrench into my plans.'

I know Collin has full knowledge of the show, Megan has partial knowledge - up to season two last I heard - and Jessica and Scotty haven't even heard of the show. Although I think Collin has not actually seen the story of Grimm Eclipse, so not quite full knowledge.

I also know that Collin would at least plan to try and foil Cinder, when she shows up. Admittedly, I plan to try and foil Cinder, but I want those Maiden powers for myself. Maybe make Neo the Winter Maiden too, that's still up in the air.

I sigh aloud.

'I'm going to have to plan around Collin and _his_ plans… Great'

A bolt out of the blue drags me back into my thoughts, if they made it to Remnant somehow, are there more? And if so, how many more? Oh no. That could be disastrous. Sighing again, I go to pay for the Weapons Weekly magazine and the Dust I picked out.

'I… really don't want to have to put them six feet under, but if I have to I will.'

...That was a really dark thought for talking about friends and family.

(Line Break)

I'm just lying on the couch in our apartment just watching the news idly while thinking on what happened today (er yesterday considering its past midnight) and about a month ago with Merlot, when the doorbell goes off.

"I'll get it!" Neo cheerfully says as she hops off my lap.

Neo returns with a box and begins prying it open, the usual. She pulls out a bracer with machinery on the outer portion of it.

"You get this babe?" Neo asks.

Looking away from the news, "Yeah, I was wondering when my line launcher would come in, I ordered it before I started the murder course." I explain.

Neo gives a muted "ahh" before tossing the launcher to me. I catch it and begin putting it on, just to see how it fits. The thing is adjustable so I can tighten it a little. I aim at the ceiling and do the flick of the wrist, ala Spiderman, to launch the line. A dart shoots from my wrist and imbeds itself into the ceiling before I do a different flick of my wrist to have it retract, pulling me upright.

"Good, it works. I don't have to climb anywhere now to sneak into places." I deadpan my thoughts, laying back down.

Neo returns to her spot on my lap and sprawls across my chest. I take a hand and give the headpats until she falls asleep.

(Line Break, also time skip)

Some minor happenings around Remnant. The white trailer happened (I watched the broadcast and team MJSC (majestic) were apparently in attendance) Along with a White Fang assassination attempt on Weiss the day before. Nothing much.

But back to Vale. Roman, Neo and I are currently planning our next heist at the warehouse.

"But what about this guard? He would see this guard," Roman points to a point on the layout we stole, "get taken down. How would we deal with that?"

"Neo could put an illusion on him to make it seem like he's still there as I take him down." I provide a solution.

We've been at this for what feels like hours. Oh, who am I kidding, it has been hours.

"But I wouldn't be able to keep it up long due to keeping this," Neo points to another point on the map, "illusion up. Then we would have the same issue. The guard would go and investigate while we are cracking the safe."

"But I'd have the element of surprise and be able to take _him_ down as he turns the corner." I continue my line of reasoning.

Before we continue making our plan, a swift three knocks comes through the door. Roman gets up and opens the door.

"What do you want? We're… busy…" Roman trails off.

I turn and look at the open door with a hand on my weapon, which I have relocated to my hip instead of my back. Oh no.

"Roman Torchwick," Cinder practically purrs, "I have need of your services again."

I blink at that. Roman had worked with Cinder before?

"Long as you can pay as handsomely as before, Cinder dear." Roman counters while my mind goes down decidedly more mature avenues.

'No, _no, no, no, no_. Bad thought. Spare me the thought of Roman and Cinder fucking.'

"All that and more, Roman." Cinder, I thought I hated her before. Oh boy was I wrong. Hearing her voice again, I tense around Odenta. My memories begin playing through what she did to Vale, to Penny, to _Pyrrha_.

I take a shaky breath in an attempt to calm myself.

'It appears Cinder and Roman goes a ways back. I might not be able to avert Roman from helping her. Shit.'

"Good! Then we can get to business! What is it you require?" Roman switches from the almost flirty back to business.

"Not a what, but a who." Cinder corrects as Roman raises an eyebrow, "A man named Merlot."

Fuck.

"I need him."

 _Fuck_.

"Alive." Cinder finishes.

"Fuck." I say under my breath. Neo turns to me with an eyebrow raised, having shifted into her "image to keep". Still don't know what that means.

"Merlot is a madman. I would be fine if she asked for him dead, but alive? There might be an 'accident' along the way. I just wonder… What's her plan?" I whisper to Neo, who nods.

As I'm whispering to Neo, Roman continues their conversation, "Hm, alright. That's going to need… Wait, you mean Dr. Merlot? Of Merlot Industries?"

"Yes, Roman." Cinder turns to me, "But who might this be?"

"Oh, him? That's Shiro, my protege." Roman answers, thankfully using my alter ego.

Unfortunately I have my helmet off and am using my actual face.

Cinder looks me over, "He doesn't seem like much." I've worked hard to get where I am Cinder, and in four months no less!

"To be fair, his progress is amazing. He only started…" Roman pauses a moment, "what, four months ago?" he finishes while shooting a questioning look at me. Which I respond with a nod.

Cinder tilts her head to give a curious look at me. This is awkward.

Eventually Cinder breaks away from looking at me, "Well, Roman, I'll be in touch." Cinder purrs.

Cinder leaves the room, presumably back to whatever base she has in Vale. I need to find that sometime. But anyway, I look at Neo and she looks kinda mad. She might have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Well maybe the right conclusion, because I could have sworn Cinder was looking at me like a piece of meat and not a person.

"Now, where were we?" Roman gets us back on track.

(Line Break)

I close the door to our apartment and start my way to the couch after another successful heist against some rival gang when…

"Zarek!"

Neo tackles me.

"Ahh! I missed you~!" Neo excitedly tells me. She then begins to nuzzle my neck.

"Babe, it's only been an hour. You can calm down." I try to calm her. Keyword: try.

Neo pulls back from my neck, "But why would I calm down!? You almost got hurt!" Neo pouts.

"Because I didn't get hurt." I snark at her.

My little ice cream psychopath sticks her tongue out at me. Smirking, I catch her tongue between my fingers.

"Ahh! Eye ou oo hat?" Neo tries to say.

"You asked for it." I tease.

Little miss ice cream wiggles the tip of her tongue, in my best guess, to try and tickle my fingers. Jokes on her, my brother and I did this a lot as kids, especially when one of us tried to put their hand over the others mouth.

"Mmm." Neo was NOT DOING WHAT I THOUGHT SHE WAS DOING.

"Taste good?" I ask sarcastically, having recovered from the minor (emphasis on minor) shock.

"Mhmm." Neo affirms.

I release my hold on her tongue and head into the kitchen with Neo skipping behind me.

"Did you make anything for dinner babe?" I ask Neo.

"I was hoping you would make something." Neo depressedly states.

I sigh with a smile on my face, "I'll make something." I tell her.

Neo immediately perks up, "Tacos?" she asks.

"Tacos." I guess, whatever.

Neo squees before plopping down onto the couch and turns on the TV, flipping it over to Remnants equivalent to Netflix. Side note, yes I can cook. I'm best with tacos and other tex mex. I actually need to find out what cuisine of Remnant would have tacos under it. There's a lot of things I still need to Google, and yes Google exists in Remnant.

I open the fridge and there's a head in there, "Kill. Me." the random head demands.

"Nah." I tell the head. How even did Neo manage to save this guys head? I assume it was Neo.

Anyway, I take the taco stuff and begin cooking.

The rest of the night is chill, we just watch the movie Neo picked out (some action movie), ate, and went to bed.

(Line Break)

I had been waiting for this. It's finally my rotation to go any keep an eye on Merlot, well not keep an eye on him anymore, I need to somehow get him to Cinder. Maybe. I might make good on that 'accident'.

I'm currently sneaking through Forever Fall on my way to the dock Merlot has there. The first guy found it while tailing Merlot from the statue exchange, so I don't have to search through the Merlot Industries HQ. Besides that would collapse on me anyway, if Grimm Eclipse is any indication.

Arriving at the docks, I take up a vantage point watching over the bay. And I wait. There should be a ship arriving today to haul off the Grimm Merlot likes to capture. I look at my Scroll; only 8 am.

Might as well take in the sights while I'm here. Forever Fall is actually really well represented in the show. The forest seriously looks like its always fall. Oranges, reds, yellows and more throughout the entire forest. There are Grimm, but mostly the big fat Ursai that Jaune eventually murders.

I make a pass over of my equipment, suit and helmet is on, got my data knife and Odenta, line launcher is working, got ammo, light Dust, sonic Dust, and my shock Dust. Wait, new trench coat? Check. All accounted for. Might as well get comfy, this could take a while.

(Line Break)

(A/N OwO what's this? An Omake? Oh Boy!)

 **Omake, Semblance Testing**

"Tell me! Tell me!" Neo demands.

"Why don't I show you?" I reply.

Bones crack, Neo cries out in worry, and I step forward a new man. Literally. I had begun working on another disguise, one for Beacon if need be. It's still in its early phases, but I have the face and body worked out.

"YOU CAN SHAPESHIFT?!" Neo practically screams.

"Yes." My voice shifted from the already low bass to an even lower bass. I could feel my speaking voice rumble my chest, which is an interesting feeling since my normal voice is placed more of in the head region.

"Ok, questions." Neo pulls out a comically large list, which unfurls at the flick of her wrist, "What are the limits? Can you change others, and in that vein, can you change others to the degree you can change yourself? Can you become animals? What about Grimm? Can you become faunas? Does changing form change your capabilities? Like, can changing make you stronger? What about-"

"Woah, slow down babe. One at a time." I interrupt.

"Ok," Neo pulls out a set of lab goggles and puts them on, "Lets get sciencing."

"Starting off, can you change others? Try turning me into you." Neo commands.

"Here goes…" I concentrate on changing Neo into me, at first it doesn't work but the moment I put my hand on her shoulder, at her request, it works. More bones snap, and Neo changes before my very eyes.

Neo (er me? Still confusing) rolls her (his?) shoulder, "Ah, that hurt." Neo states dully, in her (I'm going with what her original gender was) new deeper voice.

"Ok… Now how do I fix this?" I say looking over Neo, who broke out of most of her clothes. The panties stayed, but are _not_ enough to properly cover her.

The door clicks open, "Neo, do you wanna join me… for…" Roman trails off when Neo and I look at him.

"Nope." Roman nopes out of the apartment with twin stares following him.


	6. Chapter 6

(A/N If any of you have any Omake ideas, feel free to tell me. I have a few but more is always appreciated. Enjoy!)

'...Must have fallen asleep. What time is it?' I think to myself as I sit up on the branch I'm perched on.

"What if we bash the propeller? Then it can't move and we have plenty of time to investigate." Collin is here… Shit.

"No! We're supposed to be investigating! Not sabotaging!" Jessica too.

"They sabotaged our security system first." Collin coolly rebuts.

"Doesn't sabotaging the ship have a risk? Like, what if they start the propeller when we are sabotaging it?" Scotty, in his almost constant deadpan, logics against Collin.

"Oobleck? What do you want us to do? ...Got it, alright team, Jess and I are going to investigate the dock area, Collin and Scott are going to board that ship and investigate what's already been loaded." Megan, somehow getting team leader, orders her team.

'Looks like they haven't noticed me, but what are they…? Actually, has Merlot began making his move? Shit. That means the events of Grimm Eclipse are already upon me. Actually. I can "help" team Majestic along by shoving a few into the crates about.'

With a method of pushing their story forward, I tail Jessica to where she (foolishly) enters a shipping crate. God I love messing with people. This is why I DMed a few campaigns before I came to Remnant… I'm actually missing rolling dice and being nerds with friends. Might get Roman and Neo to do some with me.

'And the door… goes… _shut._ " I slyly think to myself as I slam the door shut behind Jessica.

"Hey! What the hell, robots! Open up!" Jessica cries from the other side of the door.

I check my helmet for scroll signals nearby, and Megan's seems to have disappeared. I frown inside my helmet and look for her last known signal location. I give a small snicker as she also got locked inside a shipping crate, this time not by me.

I send a look at where Collins scroll signal is, it appears he's trying to get on the ship via the anchor… and he looks ridiculous doing it. Seriously, it's a guardsman climbing a giant chain. Scotty is… also getting on board, using the ramp like a normal person. I follow suit after Scotty.

'I wonder, what is Collin going to do? He is the one who might be onto what's really happening here.' I wonder. Collin is a serious threat to me and my plans. He knows of everything from the show. Did I rub that in enough? I just need to find his plans before he finds mine and I should be fine. Although there is one thing that we both agree on, Arkos must sail for a bit before the Fall.

The sound of tearing metal rips me from my thoughts. I check around the corner to see Scotty's back to me. And he has a big gun. A big gun he didn't have before boarding, and looks like it was ripped from the ceiling. Scottys not a gun nut, but he is something of a kleptomaniac whenever it comes to fanciful situations. He likes the macguffins.

Hoping he will lead me to Collin, I follow. Turns out, he doesn't as he kicks it back in the bridge (which is empty besides him). The ship then lurches forward, pulling out of dock.

'Eh, I wonder if any of them get seasick? This'd be a bad time to find out.' I amusedly think.

I already have a good idea of what Merlot is shipping, Grimm. Maybe some other things he needs for his research. At least, if Grimm Eclipse is a good indication.

'Wait, if they're here to investigate, then did they already go to Mountain Glenn? If so, they must have had to defend a few security stations and then after investigating Mountain Glenn, they had to have come here. Then… where are the mutated Grimm?' I wonder as I wander through the ship. Still trying to avoid the security bots. Did I mention them? No? Eh, well I have been avoiding them for a while. Not too hard, especially considering Collin of all people has snuck past them.

Speaking of Collin, I need to find him. He's on this ship somewhere, and considering how well I know him, he's trying to find his team. His team would be somewhere in the cargo bay…

(Line Break)

There he is, took him long enough. I had gotten bored and hacked a few of the deactivated bots in their crates with my data knife. It was entertaining watching construction bots be really confused inside their crates.

"YAAAAH!" A yell, Megan, comes from below me. It's amazing how few people look up.

I turn just in time to see Megan come flying out of her cargo box with a flying kick. I suppress a laugh, while Collin looks really confused. But he opens the last cargo box making a racket, the one with Jessica. They begin chatting, if I had to guess (and I do) they are trying to find a way off the ship and catching up.

More yelling draws my attention again, this time from Scotty. He's running really fast with a bunch of security bots chasing him. You had one job! And you blew it! Drawing my hand from my face, I follow along the top of the crates.

'Is it just me or has Scotty gotten faster?' I wonder. I'm having a hard time keeping up, and I'm pretty fast. I actually could out run him in a dead on sprint, like this, back on Earth and he's actually making the gap between us larger.

We come out on the deck and Scotty is making his run straight towards the edge, what's he doing?

I get my answer as I feel _something_ shift and Scotty does a frankly awesome backflip over the androids and the bots seem to speed up and over the railing.

'He's found his semblance, and it seems he found it a while ago. He's been practicing. Just, what is it?' More questions I cannot answer. Yay.

I'm off to the side, out of earshot when, "Hello there."

"Merlot." I growl.

"Now, now. No need to be hostile. I merely have a question." Merlot smoothly replies.

"Go on…" I state, intrigued.

"What are you doing on my ship? I wanted the students for testing, but what's your goal?" Merlot asks.

"That was two questions, but sure, I'll bite. I'm here to get you to a client alive. What for, I can only guess. And I can tell you that Ozpin would have informed these students of your role in the collapse Mountain Glenn. From what I know of these students, I would be careful. They may not be as merciful as some others." I might have given too much info to him.

"Well, I do have some tests for them. I doubt they will survive. If they do, I will have more work to do. But it is no matter." Merlot kinda suddenly stops what I felt was going to be an evil monologue. Oh wait, I hung up.

Ignoring a villain aside, the team goes back to the cargo bay and begins looting. Of course they would. I doubt they even used much ammo to make it here, yet here they are stuffing their greedy little pockets with as much Dust and ammo as possible.

"Hey! I found something!" Collin yells from inside a storage crate.

I cross the gap in front of me to see inside the container. Did I forget to release one of the worker bots? Shit. Time to patch into it so I can tell what's happening.

The inside of my helmet flickers and shows what the robot sees, which is currently the wall of the box it's in.

"What should we do with it?" Collin asks.

"We should keep it!" Megan excitedly states.

"Ok, umm, activate." Collin commands. I oblige them by having the bot snap to attention. Although, apparently, the bot is on the floor sideways. Collin must have knocked the bot over.

"Stand." Collin continues. I have the robot stand.

"Arm yourself." Collin again, but I take some… liberties with what he just commanded and rip off the arm of one of the other bots in the crate. That gets a reaction out of them as the team bursts out laughing.

"Its-" Megan begins, "We're keeping it."

"Speak." Collin commands. This bot can speak but I don't want to give them too much info so I have the bot remain silent.

"Umm, can you take us to your leader?" Collin asks. I have the bot shake its head, no.

"Do you know where your leader is?" Collin again, I have the bot lie and shake its head.

"Do you know what you are doing here?" Jessica, another lie as the bot shakes its head.

"Do you have an off switch?" Scotty, asking a reasonable question, gets a nod.

"Then, where's your off button?" Jessica asks, and the bot obliges by opening its back panel and showing the glowing read button that reads 'Off'.

"Is there a central off button for all the security bots?" Melanie, good job with a reasonable question. But, alas, no.

There's a moment as Collin tries to form another question, but Jessica speaks up first, "Can you interface with the ship's computer?". A small pause as I check the capabilities of this bot before nodding, yes.

"Yay! Now we can find where we are!" Jessica semi excitedly states before they all walk off, leaving the bot behind.

'Good, now I can shut the robot down to stop leaking them info-'

My thoughts are cut short as, "Hey! Come with us!" Jessica yells from halfway across the cargo bay. I can't help but let a sigh escape as I have the bot follow their command.

(Line Break)

Now the team and the robot is in the bridge, Jessica speaks up, "Patch into the computer and tell us where we are." Jessica commands. And the robot obliges, bringing up a map and showing them we are in the middle of the ocean. Like, where did they think we were? Atlas?

"Can you send a message?" Collin asks, getting a shrug from the bot in response.

"Where are we going?" Collin asks another good question. This is why he's dangerous to me and my plans. He's actually smart and knows what to look for from the show. But the robot obliges and shows Merlots island, in the coordinates I had received from the first guy to tail Merlot.

"Send a message to," Collin quotes a number that I save for future use, "saying 'Majestic here.' with a picture of the island." the bot obliges again, although no guarantee that the message got through considering that we're out in the middle of the ocean.

Team Majestics communication devolves into throwing ideas about what to do next for a bit, which I tune out.

They finally stop and begin asking questions to the bot again, but nothing important, or anything I've not already predicted and pulled from the ship's computer.

"Then, I guess we have to wait till the ship arrives at its destination." Jessica dejectedly states.

Collin then brings up the idea of scuttling the ship when they arrive and begin brainstorming, I idly follow the conversation through the bot.

(Line break)

Those crazy bastards. They blew up the ship. And I missed the fireball! At least they waited until they docked. (A/N and that's the story about how my party blew up a cargo ship!) I think they left the bot on the ship. Thanks for tying up that loose end for me.

I'm currently standing on the dock, staring out to what was the ship. I hit the redial button to call Merlot, who is now in my contacts.

"Hello? Dr. Merlot speaking." He cheerfully answers.

"Well, you got what you wanted and much more, team Majestic is on your island and has sunk one of your ships." I deadpan as I show my helmet feed to the burning wreck of what was the cargo ship.

"Yes, I noticed. I _do_ have a fleet of those things and besides, I can build more." Merlot casually mentions the fact he can build a FLEET. Nothing much right? Thanks pessimistic thoughts, for filling details on how Merlot can build not only an army of mutated Grimm, but also a fleet of battleships to deepstrike those very Grimm and the android army he's also building. Yeah, that's about as disastrous as The Fall. At least team Majestic is here.

"...And that's how the Grimm are the superior species! Were you paying attention?" Merlot must have gone on his evil speech he wanted to give me aboard the cargo ship.

"No." I truthfully state.

Merlot gasps dramatically, "I thought we understood each other, how could you?" He genuinely sounds hurt. Which is a mild surprise. "But I must get going, I need to give my dramatic appearance to those students. Oh! And before I go, please come join me. I'll send a small escort to take you here." Merlot is actually a semi caring man, at least if his actions here and him calling the mutated Deathstalker (from Grimm Eclipse) his baby.

A red android shows up, using its weapon as a walking stick, and tells me in its robotic voice to follow it. I oblige.

The facility the android leads me through is rather high tech, not that I expected any less. There are a number of androids, and, to my mild surprise, Grimm guarding important rooms. Like, I passed by what looked to be his serum manufactorum and there was an impressive retinue of androids, Grimm, and turrets guarding the place. I might need to get the specs of those turrets though, they look to be Atlas designed, just repainted.

Not that I don't trust Merlot, actually I don't, but I sneakily hack the android with my data knife. It, still following Merlots last command, leads me to what I guess is his control center.

"Oh! Oh! Shiro! Come watch this! Hahaha! Hoo…" Merlot joyously greets me.

Merlot is currently sitting in an office chair before a large wall of monitors showing a number of camera feeds, among which is team Majestic looking much the worse for wear. Merlot rewinds the footage about a minute and hits play.

(Line Break)

(POV - Collin)

The elevator dings and opens, revealing a bare room, save for six Creeps, little blob like creatures with two stubby arms to drag the rest of it.

"I don't like the way those Creeps are glowing…" Jessica informs us.

"Keep your distance, new Grimm are bad news." Megan orders us.

I draw my chainlance, Traitors End, and shift it to its autocannon form. These Creeps look normal beside the large green crystals, that seem to be the source of the glowing, growing out of their backs.

"Open up!" Megan has really grown as a leader, she used to be really shy and just went with whatever I said. After about our third week on Remnant, she really started coming into her own. I think either Ozpin or Port had a talk with her ala The Badge and the Burden. Regardless, we all trust her decisions at this point, and she trusts us.

Jessica fires a few hard light arrows at the nearest Creep and does minimal damage. Megan opens up with Ace, her oversized axe/sniper rifle, on the same Creep. She actually hits, but the Creep shrugs off the hit like it was nothing. Scotty fires the big machine gun he got from the ship turret at the same Creep and instead of the bullets doing anything, like he had firsthand knowledge in, they go _through_ the creep. Scotty then drops the gun, and uses his staff, I don't actually know what its named, and sends a blast of sound at the creeps.

It didn't seem to faze them.

The Creeps finally make it to us, our overwatch shots failing, and fucking detonate in our faces.

"The crystals! Shoot the crystals!" Megan yells as we all realise our mistake; we're grouped up facing suicide bombers.

I call upon my semblance, which I have christened Rogal Dorn, and summon a squad of guardsmen near me and dakka at one of the undetonated Creeps.

And miss, badly. The recoil on Traitors End is almost unmanageable and it sucks, because it's an autocannon. It fucks things up. If I hit. Jessica, thankfully, hits her next shot. Megan frantically attempts to smash the next Creep that attempts to get close enough to detonate, before giving up trying to axe it and just shoots it. Scotty also opens us with the gun, which he has picked up. And misses again.

Two more explosions as the next two get too close to us, still backed into the elevator.

"Ow…" I groan. Jessica throws me one of the aura recovery Dust things. Peach really needs to name those. I am about to tap into the crystal when, "Dodge!". We respond, too late, but still.

Really need to tap into that Dust crystal.

(Line Break)

(POV - Zarek)

That was actually pretty funny. Merlot and I are both laughing hard enough that my face is beginning to cramp. Just, the fact that ALL SIX Creeps detonated on them is really funny to us.

"I need to go lie down." Merlot, laughing still, says while walking off. I would be wiping the tears from my eyes, but, helmet.

Blinking away the tears instead, I wait until Merlot has fully left the room before I hack the computer. What? He left me alone in his control center, of course I want access to everything. I link the computer to my hud, tie the guard bot AI's to my will, that sort of thing. Uh oh. These tests are going to kill them… Let's fix that shall we?

(Line Break)

 **Omake: Semblance Testing 2**

"Let's just forget yesterday happened, ok?" Roman surprisingly politely asks.

"We were just testing my semblance. You walked in at the wrong time." I counter.

"Can we just move on please?" Neo, now back to normal, asks. Roman shrugs.

"What's next?" I inquire.

"Animals, lets try... a mouse?"

I focus, and what do you know, the world seems a lot bigger when you are maybe an inch or four off of the ground in a pile of your own clothes that don't fit because you are a fucking mouse.

Next thing I know, Neo grabs me, squealing... something.

"Neo, _**NO!**_ " Roman yells after us. Where the hell is Neo taking me? I can't see shit inside this pocket. Which way even is up? I get my answer, by the way I am currently _falling_.

A number of screams ring out, was that one Jaune? No time to figure that out as a boot is currently trying to squish me.

"Neo! Neo! God Dammit woman! Are you trying to get me killed!?" I scream. Neo's laughter is echoing about this little bakery, only having gotten louder after my accusation. I can't focus like this. I need to get the hell out of dodge. Another boot.

I slip under a door, into what appears to be the kitchen. Another chorus of screams as another, different, pair of boots joins the stompfest.

'Why? _Why?_ Why does this person have _spiked boots. And why are they also trying to squish me?'_ I angrilly think. I run between the legs of some suit. Wait suit? I look back to see a man wearing a suit with a clipboard in hand shaking his head in disappointment.

'Well, I just ruined this bakery. RIP.'

And there's the back door.

(A/N Yay! I got this out a bit early for y'all.)


	7. Chapter 7

(A/N I actually managed to lose the recording for most of this session, so it won't be verbatim of what happened, regardless, enjoy!)

(Line Break)

(POV - Collin)

The elevator opens… And the rooms empty.

"What?" The question on everyone's mind given voice by all.

"I could have sworn…" Merlot begins.

"Were there meant to be Creeps in here?" I ask Merlot.

"There were meant to be Beowolves, but I don't know what happened to them." Merlot answers.

"What did you upgrade them with this time? Invisibility?" I ask, semi serious.

"No," Merlot denies, "I mutated them with pretty much the same stuff as the Creeps. I just don't know where they went."

"Did they blow up on their own?" I continue my reasoning.

"Oum if I know… Uhh, sure, okay. Just move on to the next floor then." Merlot resigns to the fact his trial has been ruined.

We are cautious on our way to the elevator, as we're fairly sure Merlot is lying to us, but it seems he's telling the truth. We make it to the elevator no problem and descend to the next floor.

Third floor now, and there's an Ursa. Kinda disappointing, it's not mutated. Long story short, we stun lock it with lightning (A/N the system I'm using has lightning Dust rounds stun the target) and nuke it from range.

And Merlot is mad that every other test chamber is empty.

"Why?! WHY THE FUCK ARE MY TEST CHAMBERS EMPTY?!"

Really mad.

(Line Break)

(POV - Zarek)

You know, watching friends and family fight literal creatures of evil (despite removing most of the Grimm) and analyzing their fighting styles to eventually do battle with them is not something you do every day. At least not on Earth. At least when they make it to the mutant Deathstalker I'll have plenty to analyze.

They ran away from the mutant Deathstalker.

I think Megan just unlocked her Semblance though. And it looks a significant amount like what I remember of Goodwitch's semblance. Good on her. She ripped a hole in the door leading away from the arena and the cameras are telling me that team Majestic is on their way and will be here in three… two… one…

As if it was planned, Megan, using her new Semblance, rips open the door to the control center. Ripping the door off its hinges apparently wasn't enough as it was more of blasted inwards clanging off of the robots in defensive position before crashing into the far wall.

I was expecting them to do something over the top, especially considering Collin, but Merlot on the other hand… He screamed like a little girl. Hardly impressive for a villain, but what can you do?

"Merlot! It's over! Surrender now or face our wrath!" Jessica demands.

Merlot, having recovered, shouts back, "But my progress! I must continue! The Grimm shall be redeemed!"

"Merlot, get out of here. I'll hold them off." I order Merlot, having activated my voice changer.

"But, Shiro, what about you?" Merlot asks, sounding genuinely concerned for my well being.

"Go to Submarine dock 2b, there's transport waiting for you there. When you're aboard, activate the self destruct on the base." I continue as if he never interrupted me before, "Don't worry," I turn my head to look at him, "I'll be there."

I thought ahead and called up Cinder to get transport and she told me that she has a fucking submarine. No wonder in canon they never found her main base, it was underwater the whole time!

'Here goes…' I get myself back on track.

Team Majestic gets the opening shots, not that I mind, and begin dealing with the guard bots I set to attack them. I dash in between them and Merlot.

"If you want Merlot, you go through me." I threaten, ineffectively as Collin charges me with his chainlance. I deflect the first blow, but the second swing sneaks through my defense and pain tears into my left.

(Line Break)

(POV - Collin)

Pain tears into my left.

"Get out of my way, the Schnee is my only target." The White Fang lieutenant revs his drill, "Or it's your blood that will stain this mine."

I spit blood at him.

"So be it." He drives the drill at my chest, I stick a hand out in vain and close my eyes.

But the drill never comes.

I slowly open my eyes to see the lieutenant stumbling backwards and a guardsman in my hand.

Wait, guardsman?

I look closer. And sure enough it is a small guardsman, maybe an inch tall, in the palm of my hand at attention.

(Line Break)

(POV - Zarek)

What the hell was that? I… what? It appears I didn't miss much as it Jessica has a Dust crystal in her hand that I don't recognise, "Flyss, what is that Dust?" I demand.

"Gravity Dust, it allows the user to affect gravity in a localised area." Flyss is helpful!

Jessica seems to finish channeling the Dust and all of my blood rushes to my head, along with the rest of me.

'Nope!' I think as I anchor myself to the ground (ceiling?) with my line launcher. Thankfully I only need one hand to wield Odenta.

The screech of metal catches my attention as Megan isn't finished throwing the door around, this time at Merlot. I take a snapshot to try and deflect the door, and to my credit, it works. The door is now in timeout in the corner.

'Starting to lose consciousness, gotta go to the ceiling' Tired thoughts again. I release the line launcher and begin falling up… Never thought I would say that. Actually there's a lot of things I never thought I would say since entering this new life (again dying is still weird).

The heavy footfalls of Megan and Jessica catches my attention as they're both moving to the door Merlot has escaped through. Huh, Merlots already got out. Cool. Wait… Shit! That's what I wanted to do!

"Flyss! Get into Merlot's network and copy any files related to his experiments! Start with the large files!" I yell, having landed. I do get an affirmative beep from Flyss and see the files begin copying over.

They seem to have forgotten me or they just hate Merlot more, regardless I pull a Scorpion and pull Megan up to the ceiling (floor?).

I'll be real with y'all here, I didn't mean to knock her out with this. But I pull Megan towards me and give a rising uppercut, which hits the top of her head and shatters her Aura. Given how hard I hit her and the crater she made when she hit the floor, I would say she has at minimum a concussion and that's being conservative.

The rest of the team seems to realise that I'm still here and still a bigger threat than those tin cans they've been fighting and beat a hasty retreat but not before grabbing Megan. I put my hand up to order the remaining androids to not follow.

Breathe out. Breathe in. Out. In. Out… _Gravity why?!_ This time when gravity shifted I don't recover in time to land, at least not on my feet. I pull myself out of the crater Megan made, "Ow… Should have remembered I was on the ceiling." I mumble but, curse my luck, the klaxon goes off along with a female AI saying, "Self-destruct sequence initiated. T minus five minutes."

I sigh, "Shit…" then I take off running towards the submarine dock I directed Merlot to. I had chosen that one because it was the closest to the control center, so not only Merlot could get out but so I could as well. I have no plans for dying again. Anyway, being inside Merlot's network makes it a cakewalk to get through all of the doors (most of which were locked) between me and the dock.

"Knock knock, Cinder, Let's get out of here before this place goes up in smoke!" I annoyedly say and as if on cue, the hatch opens. "Finally!" I exasperatedly state as I hop in. I've always known submarines were cramped but this, _this_ , is just ridiculous. I can't even stand up straight. I take off my helmet and shake my head to unknot my hair. Now that I think about it my hair is getting really long. Maybe I'll ask Neo how to do a ponytail sometime.

"Zarek." "Cinder." We regard each other as I walk into the largest room I have seen so far on this ship. Merlot is slumped over on the chair he's sitting on; Cinder is across from him, legs crossed in that red little number from episode one. There is a number of consoles, to what I assume is the subs functions, with Mercury and Emerald manning them.

"Well done. But did you have to destroy the labs? There must have been so much useful information in those servers." Cinder purrs her question.

"There were some… complications. Ozpin's students nearly got us. Apparently Merlot wanted some chew toys for his pets." I explain with the carefully edited truth, "But what's up with Merlot? He seemed fine when I convinced him to leave."

"He is merely taking a nap, the stress of today got to him." Cinder shrugs, "Please, take a seat, we have much to discuss."

Groaning as I sit down, "What kind of things? My payment? Or more work?" I inquire.

"Both, but first, payment." Cinder motions for Mercury to bring something over and hands it to me.

"It's... a card." I deadpan.

"Look closer, dumbass." Mercury snaps, way to be an ass Merc. But I do look a little closer, the card reads: "Spare Ogre on standby" with a stylized picture of the Ogre Titan from Titanfall on it.

'Holy shit. It's a burn card… Yes, please.'

"So… what does this mean for me?" I ask, pretending to be oblivious.

"I have a... contact that builds custom mech suits, all you have to do is link the card to your helmet, customise the Titan and call it in. Just burn the card when you want the Titan." Cinder explains what I already knew.

I move to put the card in my pocket, "It's not yours yet." Cinder interrupts as I stop, "That card is yours after you get me the floor plan for Beacon."

I sigh as I hand the card back, "They aren't publicly available?" I ask.

"Not the originals, which are what I'm after. Those are kept in the Repository." Cinder explains.

"The Repository?" I ask, having found something that I haven't even heard of in RWBY.

"I'll send you our notes of the security, but this is something those in my retinue can't pull off. At least not without pulling too much attention from the wrong kind of people." Cinder is helpful? Okay, I'll take it.

The sub lurches suddenly, sending Merlot to the floor, and the rest of us scrambling to regain our balance.

"Shit!" Mercury exclaims.

"What was that?" Cinder asks.

"Shockwave from the self destruct, Ma'am." Emerald calmly answers.

"How many explosives were in his base?" I ask.

"Enough to rock the _Matriarch_ like a kid trying to get an apple to fall from 3 kilometers out." Mercury snarks at me.

"Damage?" Cinder asks the next logical question.

"Minimal to the ship, but your favorite mug broke." Emerald answers, holding up the handle of a coffee mug. Cinders mask of indifference (or is it "I'm in control"?) breaks as she lets out a sigh, grumbling about getting a new mug.

I can't help but crack a smile. Not the "I enjoy watching you suffer" kind of smile, but the "what can you do?" kind. I have enough of the former from Neo. Not that I mind it being from her, she's adorable.

The ride back to Vale after that was, thankfully, uneventful. Cinder drops me off a ways from Vale, under cover of night. The walk back was slightly more eventful.

What? You thought I was going to tell you about my walk back to our apartment? Maybe later, but when I did get back I was greeted with…

"ZAREK!"

Neo tackling me.

(Line Break)

(POV - Neo)

"NEO! GO!" Dad yells at me, while trapped under a flaming beam.

"But-!"

"NO!" his voice lowers, barely audible over the blazing inferno,"Please…"

I try to form a word, anything, to try and convince him otherwise but Uncle Roman picks me up, "We have to get goin' kid. We won't make it otherwise." Roman is covered in soot, open wounds, and missing his trademark bowler.

A scream of pain draws our attention back to Dad and there's a man covered in flames, seemingly not affecting him, with a searing boot on Dads face.

Roman curses under his breath and bolts, still carrying me. The flaming man chases all the while throwing fireballs. Roman does well holding onto me while dodging both fireballs and flaming debris but a lucky shot forces him to drop me. I get up, Aura having taken the hit, only to be forced to dodge a flaming punch.

"Neo!" Roman yells, having realised he dropped me.

"Roman!" I yell back, but not before dodging another punch.

"Hold still! The Garreau family dies today!" The flaming man angrily yells.

I had only recently had my Aura unlocked on my 10th birthday and if it weren't for that, I would be dead by now. He didn't let up the flurry of blows and I didn't let up on my dodging until…

"There you are, Neo we need to get out of here!" Roman finally shows up, oblivious to the flaming man.

"Roman!" I yell, partly in relief, partly in horror as the flaming man throws a punch at Roman.

Roman makes his way to me, having missed the horror in my voice, and grabs me. The sound of shattering glass draws my attention back to the flaming man, who looks really confused. He looks around for a moment before yelling, "I'm not done with you Garreau! No more tricks!"

(Line Break)

(POV - Zarek)

I return to this Remnant with a gasp, jolting up.

"Babe? Are you okay?" Neo asks worriedly.

I try to answer her, but the lump in my throat says otherwise and I soon give up and just hug her.

"Umm…?" Neo confusedly asks.

"I… I didn't know you lost your Dad…" I whisper in her ear.

"How do…?" Neo asks, still confused.

"Shh… Just hold me, I had to watch his last moments through your eyes." I whisper, almost pleadingly.

I only notice I'm crying when Neo starts rubbing my back, feeling the weight of her arm moving with each heave of my shoulders. I don't know how much time passes while we just hold each other before she asks, "Babe?" Such a simple question with such a complex answer. Might as well begin.

"I lost my father too. Under different circumstances, yes, but still." I pause, "I still remember that day. It was three days after my birthday, a joyless birthday as my father was dying. I still remember his last words to me; "You're the man of the house now." I still remember his hand going limp in mine. I still remember the warmth fading from him. I still remember…" I pause again as the waterworks reopen. "I still remember the disbelief of one of the anchors in my life dying before my eyes. I still remember the rage in the following weeks. I don't want to forget. But I don't want to remember."

"What took him away from you?" Neo asks softly.

"Cancer." That one word was almost excruciating to get out. Neo turns her head to look at me and gives me the warmest smile I have ever seen before closing in to kiss me. It was a tender, loving kiss which is a nice change of pace.

When she eventually pulls away she says, "I'm here for you."

"And I'm thankful." I manage to force out through the renewed waterworks.

(Line Break)

(A/N VOLUME 6 TRAILER OUT AND I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS)


	8. Chapter 8

(A/N yeah, that was a twist I wasn't even expecting. I had written that entire bit out before I realised _I_ was crying. Oh yeah, if anybody hasn't noticed, I have removed all knowledge of Fanfiction (especially the two I'm using parts of) from Zarek's memory. It makes him seem more realistic and not be unsurprised at literally everything. Anyway, enjoy!)

* * *

(POV - Zarek)

'Merlot… what kind of crazy shit were you looking into? Grimm Dust? Grimm _Eyes?_ Obviously the mutated Grimm. Illusion Barriers? And a plan to turn the CCTS into a massive PAG?'

I had spent the next few days after the mess of extracting Merlot just looking over what research had been copied over to my helmet. And it is all fascinating. Take the Grimm Dust, a new blend of Merlot's own design that, when used on a living creature, it kills it (doesn't insta kill anything with an active Aura, however) and replaces it with a Grimm of equal strength to what just died. I even have the blend copied to my helmet, so I could make Grimm on the fly if I wanted.

Next, the Grimm Eyes; The Black Eyed Warriors are extremely powerful once they unlock their powers. They usually unlock their powers through a contract with Salem, though this is not needed. The powers confirmed by both Salem and Ozpin are an innate control over Grimm, and, in extreme cases, able to spawn Grimm on command. Every Grimm Eyes user has what is known as Salem's Influence, a tiny bug Grimm in their heads leaving them under the control of Salem. Apparently Merlot had one such warrior he was experimenting on, Bross, before Mountain Glenn fell.

The mutated Grimm is fairly self explanatory, but the Illusion Barriers are very interesting. Spatial distortions that make copies of whatever is in the surrounding area and puts certain targeted beings into it. The Illusion Barrier is in between the spirit realm and the real world. This allows Grimm to spawn freely within one. Illusion Barriers can be created in a few ways, extreme negative emotions, powerful Grimm, and being created by a Huntsman. A powerful enough Huntsman can create Illusion Barriers, and can choose to allow Grimm to spawn. This is useful for when you don't want to wreck and area but want to wreck some guys face. There are a few ways to break an Illusion Barrier, clearing the area of Grimm, fulfilling a requirement, and shattering it under force of will. The requirements to break an Illusion Barrier set as a trap are not always immediately obvious but they can range anywhere from defeat the creator of the Illusion Barrier, to solve this really complex puzzle while Grimm are bearing down on you. Safe to say I want to master this.

From what I could find of this 'Spirit Realm', there are apparently fucking magic weapons floating around Remnant somewhere, which spirits (from the Spirit Realm) inhabit and give them their magic qualities. As much as I want one (or all of them) the Maiden Powers remain my top priority. Along with not dying again.

"What'cha lookin' at? Better not be porn~." Neo, you sound as sweet as your namesake.

"The files I stole from Merlot." I answer truthfully.

"Still?" Neo asks, exasperated.

"There's a lot to get through. Plus it doesn't help that most of it is 'nerdspeak' as you put it. Plus a lot of it is recordings of his experiments and not notes that I can have Flyss read at me."

I had attempted to explain some of Merlot's research to her and merely got a head tilt and a "What?". Google has been my best friend so far, well Flyss has as she has been the one Googling everything for me.

I'm currently in the middle of watching one of Merlot's tests, specifically one on Illusion Barriers, when I get a ping from my scroll. I open the text from Cinder (who has been in my contacts since Roman gave me her number) and it reads, "Here's the compiled information I have on the Repository". Short, simple and straight to the point, that is good information giving. The attachments is a few pictures of what I assume is the Repository plus doodles labeled 'Guard Routes' overlayed onto the photos. There is also a spreadsheet with guesses on guard rotations, not as helpful as the routes as it's incomplete, well, more incomplete than the guard routes as none of the photos are inside the Repository.

I guess I'll plan that later as Neo is trying to get my attention, "Hm?"

"Did you hear anything I said?" Neo huffs.

"Nope." see Qrow, I can do it too!

"We have a meeting to get to now!" Neo yells.

I mumble a curse and fall out of the chair I was in. Not too long and I'm ready and we're off to see the bitch herself.

* * *

Knocking, because we're polite and not trying to break Romans poor warehouse again, the door opens to reveal Emerald. We invite ourselves in, passing by the "Rude." she mutters after us.

By this point, I know how to find the meeting room Roman commonly uses and head there practically subconsciously with Neo a step behind. We enter and take our seats, mine next to Roman and Neo on a crate in the corner. I take off my helmet and put up my hair with a few bobby pins. Oh how I hate having my hair in my face, but I prefer my hair long. Emerald joins us a short while later when Roman speaks up.

"Looks like we're all here, shall we get started?"

"Not yet." Cinder commands. Roman shoots a questioning look and Cinder adds, "I have another contact to introduce to you to."

Roman and I share a look when the door clicks open and only THE Adam Taurus enters plus what I assume to be the White Fang Lieutenant that Weiss faces during the Breach. I do note the lack of a certain kitty cat at his beck and call. Good. That means the Black trailer happened.

"Allow me to introduce Adam Taurus and Steel Scream, the leader of the White Fang in Vale and his second respectively." Cinder announces slyly.

I think if Roman were a cartoon character his jaw would be on the ground right now. I'm unsurprised but acting at least mildly interested and Neo is… well, Neo.

"I'm sure you have heard of our actions and seen our deeds," Adam begins but Cinder interrupts him, "And you two," Cinder points to both Adam and Roman," will be working together."

It appears as though either Adam is good at lying under that mask or he already knew this was going to happen. Either way, it doesn't matter. Roman seems to have dislocated his jaw while I frown and raise an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Adam will be providing manpower to Roman's operation while Roman," Cinder turns to face him fully at her end of the table, "You will be stealing every bit of Dust in Vale."

At that, Roman finally closes his mouth and gives an impish grin, "When do we begin?" A valid question.

"August." A month before Beacon… Her plan is coming together.

"Well," I speak up, "if we're going to be working together, we're going to need contact information."

It only takes a moment as Adam has a business card, it makes sense but I'm still surprised regardless.

"Now that formalities are out of the way, onto planning!" Roman exclaims, excited to get back to his favorite part of this job.

I stand up, "Actually, I have my own heist to plan, Roman. I'll be back in time for the tail end of this planning though, so don't leave me out on the fun."

I grab my helmet on the way out and Spiderman my way out to the Repository.

* * *

The building in question is a squat grey complex that looks like it's from Warhammer 40k, specifically the Guard but missing all of the skull paraphernalia. Well, that's what my mind is telling me anyway. I'm currently on top of a nearby building overlooking the area. My scroll rings and I pick it up first ring.

"Hey Neo." I greet my slightly crazy girlfriend.

She smiles in what I understand to be her greeting and turns the camera to face the whiteboard, where Roman is standing and talking strategy.

"Flyss, record the scroll feed." I command and get an affirmative beep.

'Now back to watching the watcher be bored out of their minds… You know what? Screw it. I'm making my own opening.'

Literally a day time heist. Not my brightest idea, but here goes.

I drop swing my way across the street and land in a nearby alley way. I find the outer wall not heavily guarded, not to say it's not entirely covered though. Whoever designed the guard patrols did well. But, far more time than I care to admit did go into Assassins Creed and Metal Gear. And a lot of other games. But that's beside the point. Getting in is the easy part. Finding the original plans for Beacon is proving to be rather hard. It also doesn't help that whoever designed this building did not want anyone entering. Like, who the hell designs a dead end hallway with murder bots waiting between whoever is unfortunate enough to head down the corridor and the exit.

I'm just glad that this helmet is super handy and waned me of that ahead of time. ...And that guard is very well placed. I can't get around him and it looks like he's guarding a basement. By this point I've already searched the above building and found little more than office space. Nothing of too much interest up there. I did snag a snack from the break room. Hey, I got hungry and besides I have a plan. You know how in most stealth games you can get a lure? Yeah, the wrapper of the granola bar is my lure. I need him to move from his spot.

Huh, I wasn't expecting that to be so effective. He moved alright. At a sprint. I meant to get past him but instead I had to take him down. Oops. Although, I have a guards uniform on now and used my Semblance (which I have dubbed Adaption) to become this dude. Slightly shorter than I am at about 5'10" and very well muscled. Well, I guess you have to be considering he's a security guard. Although he didn't have an active Aura. Might have been a Huntsman washout. Who knows and who cares? Not me.

Now in disguise, I enter the basement. That sounded better in my head. As long as it looks like I'm supposed to be here it's fine. Okay, so there are vaults down here. If I were the original plans for Beacon, where would I be? Probably deeper and under more security… Here goes.

"Hey," The guard I just spoke to turns and begins to say something but I pistol whip him before he could, "I don't feel like acting."

Deeper into the depths I go.

Thank god that there's no more than two basements. Probably from here it would be alphabetical. So, vault one, open sesame!

Coughing a bit as the door opens, I idly wonder how long this vault has been closed.

'Let's see, A, B. Be, where are you?' Once I made it into the vault finding the plans weren't hard. I've found a big ass blueprint with with Beacon plus the sub sub basement and make sure to snag a photo of it before taking the plans myself.

'Is somebody watching Star Wars?' Is my initial thought as Klaxons go off throughout the complex. That is before I hear a lot of footsteps coming my way. Dropping a curse under my breath, I hide as best I can in a guards uniform in where they are going to be searching. Yay. Actually, wait. I've heard of this trick of joining in on the investigation when they all burst into the room during the confusion. Screw it, doing it.

I'm waiting above the large vault door, on the inside of course, just waiting on guards to enter. Shit, those ain't guards. Those are AK-130's. Literal murder bots. Dropping down anyway.

"Spread out! I want this intruder found!" I command from behind the AK-130's. Time to raise the alarm to get out of a heavily defended area. Again, not my brightest idea, but doing it anyway. I did check the vault I was in, it didn't have any well placed cameras. So I make sure to destroy a few AK-130's to create evidence of a breakin. Along with snagging a few random things to throw off the inevitable investigation.

Not too long after making the misleading evidence, actual guards show up.

"Hey Jim," I turn at that, as the guard I am currently disguised as name is Jim.

"Hey," I greet the random guard.

"We got here as soon as we could, what did we miss?" the same guard asks.

"Our intruder." I state bluntly, "They've destroyed a few AK-130's, stolen a few things, and," I pause, feigning thinking about what else this 'Intruder' did, "And that's it." I finish.

The guard sighs, "I'm going to head back to my post. I'll let you handle things from here." I say as I walk 'back to my post'.

I find the guard I had knocked out earlier, reclothe him, and switch back into my stealth suit. I'm surprised he's still unconscious. In video games, they tend to only be out for a few minutes tops. Eh, its fine. Slipping my helmet back on, I see on my radar guards running about like headless chickens. Raising the alarm was not a good idea.

It's really unfortunate I had to kill a few guards on my way out. I would have rather had a ghost ranking on that… Whatever I got what I needed. Time to rejoin that meeting.

* * *

"...we have any back up?" Adam finishes as I walk in.

"You _are_ the back up." Roman responds.

I slam the plans for Beacon on the table, "There you go Cinder. Just as you wanted."

"Good, good." Cinder responds, handing me the burn card she promised.

"What is that and what is it for?" Roman asks.

"A later stage of my plan, Roman." Cinder being vague (despite me knowing what this means).

"Now, what did I miss?" I ask, genuinely curious while stowing the burncard for later.

"Basically, you are the escape route should everything go horribly wrong. Hope you know how to fly a Bullhead." Roman explains. Huh, the board shows the docks…? Wait. Oh, the docks! Riiiiight… I'm actually forgetting things. Writing things down may actually help.

The rest of the meeting is actually boring. Neo left a while ago, leaving her scroll connected to the call. I grab it on my way out after the meeting.

"Hey Neo." I greet my little ice cream girl. She smiles, still in her 'Image to keep'. Although she uses her semblance to create signs whenever she does need to 'speak' or want to.

" _How'd the meeting go?_ " Neo's sign reads.

"Boring, I can see why you left." I mildly complain.

The sign shifts, " _Did you grab my scroll?_ "

Instead of answering, I toss it at her. She thankfully catches it before the sign shifts again, " _Thanks babe!_ ".

I pull out my scroll and update my calendar with the new dates. Now that I am looking at the order we are hitting these Dust shops there's a kinda faint pattern to it. Of course the last one to hit is From Dust till Dawn. Well I know who's going to be there at that time. Shame I may not meet her before Beacon. Actually, that brings up a good question. Will I be going to Beacon with Cinder and her posse instead of Neo? Whenever she brings that part of her plan up, I'll have to pay attention.

In the meantime, I have an Aura skill to master. Illusion Barriers. Yeah, that'll be useful, I like Vale and don't want it to be destroyed.

Neo and I walk into the main area of the warehouse to see Adam had brought some… colorful reinforcements.

"Alerio, that's our boss." A female bird faunus tells her (I assume) brother while dragging him off.

"That doesn't mean I can't hit on her! Hey, hey! Watch it!" Alerio retorts.

"She's 17." The female faunus responds as Alerio slumps in her grip.

Looking over the rest of the faunus I'm going to be working with, there is what looks to be a tiger faunus, Alerio and Aleria, a cat faunus (not Blake), a fish(?) faunus, and… Huh, Illia's here too. Cool.

Cinder and Adam are off to the side talking in hushed tones when Alerio notices us, or more specifically Neo.

"Oh, hello beautiful! Might I ask the name of such a fine lady?"

"Her name's Neo, but you can back off as she's already claimed." I reply smugly.

"Can I not ask the name of a beautiful lady?" Alerio asks innocently. Neo facepalms at this guys absolute lack of dignity.

"Not when you hit on and get rejected by the most powerful person in the room." I deadpan.

"And who would that be?" I think he was genuine that time.

"Cinder, who else?" At that he winces, "Besides, Neo's out of your league. Cut the romantic crap before I cut _you._ " At that her sister seems to find Alerio.

"Alerio! What did I _just_ tell you! Stop hitting on your new co-workers! Remember that time you hit on Blake in front of Adam?!" Alerio winces as she is yelling right into his ear.

"Sorry about that, Alerio doesn't learn. I'm Aleria. My brother," She glares at Alerio, "and I work together on everything. You won't find him alone as I'm just around the corner at most." The newly named Aleria (that's not confusing) says.

"I've found threats of violence tends to work against pretty boys like him." I pause, "And most people." I add as an afterthought.

Looking a bit closer at siblings, they are in matching outfits: a plain white shirt with a brown jacket and jeans. They also have feather capes, which look really cool. Might be a faunus trait. Yet, despite not dressing like fighters I can tell they are clearly geared for it with their slim yet fit physique.

I jolt as Neo smacks me and points to Aleria, "Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself yet. My names Shiro, and this is Neo." Neo waves at Aleria.

"So my sister gets special treatment and I don't? What's the deal? I'll double it!" Alerio calls from behind her sister.

"It's called not hitting on a man's girlfriend in front of him." I sarcastically yet seriously state. A pitiful "Oh," comes from his direction.

"Should we meet the others before we head home?" I ask Neo. She cocks her head before nodding yes. I shrug in response.

The next faunus we're going to be working with is the tiger faunus. I… I don't have a guess on what this man's personality will be. But, from a distance, he's wearing a suit with a logo'd towel over his arm. Kinda looks like a butler now that I think about it. He has tiger ears too, which is kinda cute.

"Hey, looks like we're going to be working together for a while. I'm Shiro, and this is Neo." I introduce us.

He looks us over and says, "Osvoldo Gervinho." A curt introduction if I ever heard one. We stand awkwardly for about a minute before he walks off to talk to Adam.

"That just happened." I state buntly as Neo nods in agreement. I'm kinda disappointed I couldn't get anything off of him beyond his name. That might have been a good friend or somebody I needed to put down.

I don't actually walk up to the cat faunus as she walks up to us.

"Hiya! I saw that attempt to get Os out of his shell. That was kinda sad," I drop a "Yeah…" "But I'm Veronica! Veronica Lambert!" the surprisingly peppy cat girl introduces herself.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Shiro and this is Neo." I introduce us again.

"So, tell me a bit about yourselves." Veronica inquires.

"Well, I'm Roman's right hand man-" I get a smack from Neo, "Hey, you're his right hand _woman_." I am really laying on the sarcasm with her today.

"We join Roman for his bigger heists and otherwise act as lieutenants for the gang, Smashing Pumpkins." I finish our basic job description, "What about you?" I ask interested about the cat girl before me. What? Cat girls are adorable, look at Blake!

Her ears fold down, "Me? I- Why would you want to know about me?" Veronica asks panicked. Side note: that was an _adorable_ response.

"You are the one who walked up to me and started conversation," I logic at her, "So, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself."

"A- okay. I used to be a freelance engineer before the fall of Mountain Glenn, worked for Merlot Industries before all went to hell. I was trapped inside the new headquarters in Mountain Glenn for… A long time. I eventually ran out of MRE's and had to leave. I spend some time making D.S.M.N," she pulls out a freaking _miniature fighter jet_ before continuing, "and working freelance as a bodyguard. It turns out having a miniature fighter jet is great for detering any would be assasins or adoring fans. Eventually I wound up escorting the wife of the leader of the White Fang of the time,"

'Kali Belladonna' I mentally note.

"And her husband gave me an invitation to join something which I hadn't ever had: a family. I've been with the White Fang Phantoms ever since." Veronica finishes her life story, speaking of…

"I asked for a bit about you, not your life story." I get on her case. Again. She's really making it easy for me to lay on pressure like this.

"I- I'm sorry! I- I- Uh-," "Don't worry about it," I interrupt, "Now, what are these 'Phantoms' you mentioned?"

"Oh! We're the elite members of the White Fang. The Phantoms were founded by Kali Belladonna. The Phantoms used to consist of Alerio, Aleria, Illia, Naomi Oceanus, me, and Blake Belladonna. Though it now consists of Alerio, Aleria, Illia, Naomi, me, and Osvoldo Gervinho. Most of us are assassins, or thieves with one more of a… support type." She cheerfully explains.

'Did I hear that right? Blake was a part of the Phantoms? Holy shit.' I'm actually stunned. I knew Blake was a part of the White Fang, but the elite subgroup of assassins? I- what?

"A- alright, thanks." I attempt (and fail) the recovery and walk off to meet the fish lady.

While walking up to her, I take a closer look. The woman that I presume is Naomi is wearing a plain white lab coat with a white undershirt and a pair of slacks. She is currently tapping away at her plus size scroll, seemingly working on something.

"Hey, it looks like we're going to be working together for a bit. I'm Shrio and this is Neo." I introduce us again.

Without looking up from her Scroll, "I'm Naomi Oceanus. And yes, we are going to be working together." she responds in complete monotone. As in either something really, and I mean _really_ traumatizing happened or she is extremely stunted in her conversation skills. Like I used to be. You really did not want to know me in elementary or middle school.

"Can you tell us a bit about yourself?" I ask, trying to actually get more information out of her.

"I'm Neomi Oceanus, I am a Doctor in Aura and Semblance applications as well as an associates in Human/Faunus Biology. Though I don't remember taking the classes, so that means I either have a good forgery or the degrees are the real deal. But, I am the person to see should anything happen to your physical form." She actually told me a bit about herself and not her life story. She still was monotone unfortunately.

"What do you mean you don't remember any of your classes?" I press, interested.

"I remember nothing beyond the past few years." Oh. _Oh._

And this suddenly became awkward. Leaving now to talk to Illia.

Illia, well, her appearance hasn't changed from the show but I wouldn't be too surprised to see a few changes in her personality at this point.

"Hey, it looks like we're going to be working together for a while. I'm Shiro and this is Neo." You get the drill by now.

She glares at us, "..."

"Are you going to introduce yourself?"

"..."

"Or maybe you'd prefer this?" I say while activating my Semblance. I gave myself cat ears.

Illia raises an eyebrow, "How did you do that?"

"Semblance." I state simply, "Now that you've come out of your shell, will you introduce yourself?"

"...Fine. I'm Illia Amitolia. I don't normally talk with _humans_ ," She spits the word with disgust, "but considering your Semblance, I'll make an exception."

"That's all I ask for." And that's all I get out as, "I didn't notice you were also a cat faunus!" Veronica appears in front of me.

"Actually, it's my Semblance. I can adjust my genetics and others on the fly to fit any situation, I call it Adaptation." I explain as Veronica's ears fold down.

"Aww, I wanted another cat faunus to spend time with…" Veronica dejectedly states.

"Well, technically I am a faunus right now…" I respond.

Veronica's ears perk back up and is giving me a perfect (:D) smile right now. What is it with me and adorable, if not slightly psychopathic girls? ...And she's trying not to squeal. Or tackle me, I'm not sure which.

"You good there? Or does Neo need to get you a new pair of panties?" I tease the way too hyper cat girl. Seriously, she looks like she could be bouncing off the walls right now. Illia, I noticed that snicker. I made the stone faced Illia break with one line! Er, two!

Veronica on the other hand, pouts at me, "No, I'm fine! Just really happy."

"You still don't looks so fine. Maybe Neo does need to get a replacement pair…" I keep teasing her.

Her pout deepens as Illia busts out laughing, "Stoooooooooooooop thaaaaaaaaaat!" Veronica pleads.

"Nah," I respond while stretching out my hand, where Neo obliges me with a fresh pair of panties, "Here, you've spend too much time stewing in your own juices, go change." I keep teasing as I hand her the panties. She blushes as she sees what panties Neo picked out. Neo picked out her cat panties (I do NOT want to ask why she has that). Yet, wordlessly, she takes the panties to the bathroom. Neo and I share a look before following the trail of the cat girl.

"You know, I didn't think I was actually accurate in my teasing." I deadpan.

* * *

(A/N Hey look a longer chapter. Eh. But, GO CHECK OUT VOL 6 RUBES IS SO PRECIOUS.)


	9. Chapter 9

(A/N With that last chapter we broke 25k words! Yay! Anyways, Enjoy!)

* * *

(POV - Zarek)

The White Fang Phantoms were… interesting to say the least. After getting home, I did some digging on the internet, and there wasn't a whole lot. For most of them at least. The siblings have a number of headlines about them or at bare minimum someone that looks a lot like them. Alerio and Aleria really got around in their time before the White Fang. From what I could find, their trail begins in Vacuo with a minor incursion into Shade academy. They attempted to do something in Atlas, but were thwarted by some students (they did elude capture). That was before going to Menagerie and disappearing for about 7 years before a suspicious heist in Mistral, against the Nikos family of all people. That was all I was able to find definitively.

Anyway, it's been a few days since meeting the Phantoms. Neo and I are at one of Roman's spare warehouses.

"Are you sure Merlot isn't just crazy?" Neo asks.

"He's provided enough evidence to convince me. Now I have to know for myself. Besides, I feel I made progress last time." I explain.

Neo is off to the side, playing a game on her scroll, while I am in the middle of the warehouse fully geared up. I concentrate again, attempting to open an Illusion Barrier. Only for my headache to return.

"Gah!" I grunt, my concentration broken.

"You've been at this for hours, why not at least take a break? Get some lunch?" Neo reminds me of reality. Doesn't help my stomach agrees with her.

"Fine, but don't think I'm done with this yet." I relent.

"Good, I have a place I want to eat at." Neo says while putting her scroll away.

"Oh?" I ask, intrigued.

"It's the new place that opened up off of Main and 34th street." Flyss gives me the location as Neo finishes.

"It's an authentic Valean diner?" I question.

"You've never been?" Neo asks.

"Uhh…"

"You'll like it." Neo waves off my inexperience.

"Then let me change, and we can get going." I grab my duffel bag with my change of clothes. I don't even get out of my stealth suit. I just put the undershirt and slacks over it. Along with the coat I got, so Neo, Roman and I are matching whenever we aren't doing a heist. Er, a silent heist. Roman and Neo have their own stealth suits that they use for that. Well not quite matching as Roman's coat has orange trim and Neo's has pink trim. Mine has the deep red of my aura color as its trim.

It doesn't actually take us that long to make it to Moment of Peace, the ice cream parlor Neo wanted to go to. Moment of Peace actually reminds me a lot of Steak 'n Shake from Earth, with a 1980's American diner feel. Kinda homey now that I think about it. Though that's probably the point.

The two of us walk into a moderately crowded dining room. We are lead to a booth on the far side.

"You know Neo, this isn't a bad choice." I offhandedly state as we sit down.

She smiles, having been right. I was going to like this place.

"Hello, I'm Jonathan. I'll be your waiter for today, now can I get you two something to drink?" our waiter, Jonathan, politely asks.

I share a look at Neo, who nods, "I'll have a Coke and she'll have the same."

He writes our order down, nods, then walks off. I turn back to Neo, who has a sign up.

" _Didn't he seem familiar?"_ the sign reads.

"...Yeah, actually." I look back after him. Just can't place where I know him from… Doesn't matter right now as our drinks came out.

After thanking Jonathan, "So, Neo." She looks up from her drink, "What do you think of Cinder? And what she has planned so far?" I ask behind a thinly veiled prodding for information.

A new sign forms in her hands, " _Can we NOT talk about work on a date?"_

"I thought you enjoyed our work." I jab at her.

The sign shifts again, " _I do, but I'd rather not talk about it right now."_

"Don't blame ya, work can be rather stressful at times." I admit, Neo nodding along.

"Well if work isn't going to be a topic today, then did you do anything fun while I was busy?" I ask.

I think you get it, " _Yes, actually. I went to the holo arena and fought a few people there."_

"You win?" I ask the obvious question.

" _Of course."_ As expected.

" _There was an interesting duo there too, they looked like they were dating."_ Not so expected.

"How were they interesting?" I ask, intrigued.

" _Besides the fact they looked like they were dating? Their weapons, or one in particular. Here."_ the sign dissipates into shards and out comes a large warhammer with pink highlights across the head of it before handing it off to me. Being an illusion, it's pathetically light but it is without a doubt Magnhild. Meaning…

"What's so interesting about this warhammer?" I ask feigning ignorance. Neo rolls her eyes and has the hammer go through it's transformation into the grenade launcher before changing back.

"Oh. A grenade launcher. Fun." I deadpan as Neo rolls her eyes again.

A new sign forms, " _I think this might be Mjolnir, the enchanted warhammer."_

"Why is that?" I ask mildly baffled and very intrigued.

" _The way she wielded it, and how ridiculously powerful it is. I saw someone get hit by that thing once, it shattered his Aura. Not to mention all of the lightning and thunder of the dude getting hit in the first place."_

"One hit…? That is insane." I knew Nora was strong but sheesh. Nora might be one punch man. Er, girl. And hammer. One hammer girl. ...Doesn't sound as good.

Jonathan returns again, "Have you two decided on what you want to eat today?"

"Yes," I begin,"I'll have the Huntsman special and she'll have a white cheddar burger."

He again writes down our orders, nods, and walks off.

"He is seriously familiar and I can't place it." I mutter under my breath.

* * *

Before I continue, I should probably give the tale of the Twelve Enchanted Weapons.

Long before the kingdoms of Remnant, there was a traveling blacksmith, Olaf. He eventually stumbled across a book with the ability to turn his already powerful craft legendary. He made a contract with what was soon to be the twelve spirits who live within his craft. He let them wander Remnant in order to improve his craft. Later, bandits. They get demolished. Olaf, fearing the power of his own creations, scatters them across Remnant. The weapons are:

Carnwennan, the enchanted Dagger.

Mjolnir, the enchanted Warhammer.

Indra, the enchanted Bow.

Rhongomiant, the enchanted Spear.

Cronus, the enchanted Scythe.

Sharur, the enchanted Mace.

Masamune, the enchanted Katana.

Perun, the enchanted Axe.

Dgraig Goch, the enchanted Longsword.

Flamberge, the enchanted Sickles.

Joyeuse, the enchanted Rapier.

And Caliber, the enchanted Sword.

That's the basics. Now back to Neo and I's date...

* * *

Our conversation dies when our food arrives. I had skipped breakfast as I tend to do and thus am basically starving (curse you Aura for eating so many calories!) while Neo… Did she have breakfast? Not sure. Anyway, the Huntsman special is an Ursa burger (four patties each wrapped bacon, cheese inside each patty, with lettuce, tomato, onions, and honey mustard at my request), large fries, and a sunday. That's a lot of food. Neo got what was on her tin, a white cheddar burger plus fries.

We pay for our food, in cash of course, and head to the holo arena in the hopes of seeing Nora and Ren. And, nope. Not here. Although Mercury is here.

"Hey Mercury." I greet him.

"Hey," he turns, "You here for the tournament too?"

"There's a tournament?" I ask, for obvious reasons.

"Yeah. It's a bunch of one v one matches until one winner is chosen. Standard tournament rules to boot." Mercury explains.

'So basically, until one person's Aura reaches under either 15 or 20 percent. Easy.'

Neo and I exchange a look before nodding, "Where do we sign up?" I ask Mercury.

"I actually haven't signed up yet, come on." He pats my shoulder before walking off.

* * *

(POV - Mercury)

"Gah!" I yell out, having missed the part where "dear" old dad got behind me.

"Come now son. You gotta do better than that if you want that revenge you've been talking about." He taunts me.

I kick the flaming pillar next to me and with a creak it gives. The house burns and moans with our- No, _my_ fury. I kick a shot into the flames where that bastard is. Or was as he bursts through the flames, twin hidden blades out. With a hop I strike his face once, twice with steel clad boots.

It doesn't take long for him to recover and strike back. I backflip to dodge the first swing, but it appears as though he anticipated that and hits my leg mid backflip. He's on me even before I land and swings again and again. Only for him to miss and get his blades stuck in the floor. Though I am launched through the burning thatched roof.

"That was a good trick! Something I didn't teach you myself! Lets see if you can keep that up!" He taunts from inside the burning house.

I land hard on my back with a thud I could hear even through the pain.

'Fuck that hurts.' I think while getting onto my shaky legs.

A crash pulls my attention away from my pain and to the collapsing house. And my bastard of a father flying right at me in one of his famous aerial attacks. A kick launching a shot at him brings him to the ground. And sends me flying. Flipping before skidding to a halt, I look at my legs. Bloody. Very bloody. Need to end this.

I look up in time to see the bastard getting up. We lock eyes, the burning house behind him. I close my eyes before reopening them with a wild rage.

"HaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!" I yell while sprinting at him. He brings up his blades to block yet it does nothing for him. Actually it hurt him as I kicked his elbow to drive his own blade through his skull.

* * *

(POV - Zarek)

Huh, that's how that fight went down. I always wondered that.

"Hello? Nix? You there?" Mercury is waving his hand in my face. Side note; I have completed another alias. That being Nix, an almost wild west style outlaw. Tall, black hair, silver eyes (with the express purpose of giving Ozpin a heart attack), with twin revolvers, of course, named Luck and Probability. I'm going to use him for Beacon, should Cinder actually want me instead of Neo on her team.

"Sorry, I zoned out. Where were we?" I ask as if nothing happened.

"About to get registered in this tournament."

"Oh yeah."

"Last chance to register for today's tournament!" The fairly small man, at least compared to Merc and I, yells out across the lobby.

"Hey, we're here for the tournament." Merc Introduces the three of us.

"Oh, jolly good. Can I get you three's names?" The short man asks.

"Mercury Black."

"Nix and Neopolitan." I point to Neo as I say her name. She merely smiles. We see our names appear on the bracket. We are very spread out. As in I won't see Neo until the semifinals and Merc at the finals. This ought to be interesting.

"All done, you three may proceed to the waiting room." The front desk guy tells us.

"Yeah, whatever." Mercury responds as Neo and I go into the waiting room.

The waiting room is remarkably well done, there's a shooting range, training dummies, a lounge area with drinks and snacks, and a number of monitors linked to the cameras within the arena. And all that was done in the sleek white and silver that denotes Atlas tech.

That's to say nothing of the many people in the room who look our way a moment before going back to whatever they were doing. The three of us don't look too out of place. Especially considering in order to fit into huntsman society, you need to stand out. Makes no sense in words, but it does in practice. A collective ding is heard throughout the room with everyone, myself included, looking at our Scrolls. It's a confirmation dialog basically asking if we all signed up and upon answering yes are given a copy of the bracket and the order the matches will go. It seems Mercury is up first out of us three against… Jun Arc, who looks maybe 12 at oldest. This ought to be interesting. Though I have some time before my first match. Time to go back to working on Illusion Barriers.

Two serious headaches later, and Mercury's match is about to start. I've taken a seat on the wings of the arena itself, so front row!

"Three!" Is that the Halo announcer?

"Two!" Oh god it is. Plus the battlefield has been selected as plain.

"One!" This is gonna be awesome. And I'm smiling like an idiot.

"Begin!" At the drop of the metaphorical hat, they both charge each other. The little red head is fast for her size. Merc does a flip over her, landing a goomba stomp leading to Jun eating pavement on the plain battlefield and Merc landing a ways away after using what I presume was his semblance. The little red head actually skids a ways, all the while chipping her aura down to below half.

I actually tune out the rest of the fight here. Merc won, obviously, but I am looking up the Arc family and wondering why Jaune wasn't trained. The Arcs are a well known family of Huntsmen around Vale. The Arc legacy runs as far back as the Great War, if not further. It's believed that Jeremy Arc (Jaunes Great Great Great Grandfather) wielded Dgraig Goch, I can't seem to find why Dgraig Goch was not passed down the family line. The current Arc family consists of Jacques (father), Lily (Mom 1), Iris (Mom 2), Joan(oldest, went to Beacon), Jean (twins, Beacon), Jane (twins, Beacon), Jen (went to Atlas), Jana (went to Haven), Jillian (went to Shade), Jaune (we all know this doofus is faking his papers), and Jun (currently at Signal). With so many clearly talented Huntresses, why the actual fuck is Jaune practically barely able to hold a sword by the time he enters Beacon?

Wait, my match is up already? Shit. Thankfully I'm already prepared. I take my place on the battlefield, before the rolling of the battlefield begins.

'Wait, who the hell am I actually facing?' I look across the battlefield to see-

"Oh, This'll be _fun_!" The telltale signs of a not-so-sane mind echo out. She is wearing what looks like scrap metal head to toe, with a helmet that has a spike mohawk. I think I saw something like this in a movie once. In her left, no, right hand (gotta remember that right and left are reversed when looking at another head on!) is a pike that looks like it can turn into two assault rifles.

"Three!" The countdown begins.

"Two!" A desert battlefield? Ok then.

"Homefield advantage, I'll take it." I offhandedly mention.

"That _makes_ two of us!" Ray, as the stats board thankfully shows, reveals. Oh I remember where I saw that armor style before, it's Mad Max… Of course! She must be from Vacuo.

"One!" I fall into my combat stance, drawing the dual revolvers of this disguise. Ray doesn't move, besides the jittering if I haven't mentioned it yet.

"Begin!" And I suddenly can't fucking see. It's gotten so damn bright suddenly, it must be her semblance. She is, unfortunately for her, cackling loud enough that I can hear her over the sound of her assault rifles and immediately jump out of instinct and twist to dodge the hail of bullets following me. I then open fire on where the cackling is coming from, evidently scoring a hit, as evidenced by the, "OOOOwww." that comes from her.

My vision thankfully returns in time for me to see her closing the distance after combining her assault rifles back into pike form. I begin moving to dodge the obvious attack, but she leaps at the last moment to strike me once over the head launching me behind her where I fail the recovery and skid, getting plenty of sand in my face. Upon standing back up, I fire off a couple shots grazing her as she charges me again.

That pike is surprisingly effective. I again try to dodge, but this time she dashes left and hits me with a side swipe before a hard turn and hitting again. I fire a shot before realising I still have my line launcher. Using that and going for ring out instead was much more effective. It barely took me using my weight to throw her out of the arena and be declared the victor.


	10. Nondescript Holiday Special

(A/N Hey, Merry (late) Christmas. Here's an Omake. A tiny bit of context though, this would be between chapter 4 and 5.)

(By the way, smut.)

 _Italics = text messages or Neo's signs or thoughts_

 **Bold = TVs, calls, and other electronic voices**

* * *

 **Omake: Nondescript Winter Holiday Gift Opening ;)**

"Neo, what do you want?" I tiredly ask her.

"Today is the nondescript winter holiday! Your gifts are ready!" Neo excitedly responds.

I open my eyes and roll over to look at her with an upraised eyebrow. That was before I realise what she is wearing. Even in my tired state, I can tell what she wants.

… I should actually describe what she is wearing. Neo has (somehow) tied herself up in ribbons, just barely covering everything. Nothing else.

"Oh." is all I say before quickly throwing off what little I wear to bed and move to unwrap my "present". It helps that as I unwrap her I (purposely) graze her unprotected sex and nipples and with each touch, a new sound comes from her. It's an odd mix of adorable and sexy and I love it. I quickly lube up my member with her juices before plunging in, eliciting a deep moan.

"Y-You didn't g-g-go that d-deep last time!" Neo stutters out under my aggressive fucking.

"I- mmm- Might have cheated a bit with my Semblance." I respond.

Given how aggressively I'm fucking her, it's no wonder we both finish relatively fast. I pull out, some cum leaking from Neo's sex which reminds me (thanks for the post-cum clarity!).

"You on the pill?" I ask a simple question which gets an answer I was not expecting.

"I had my tubes tied. Kids are not in the future for me. Nor will they ever." She responds, "But there is actually some gifts for you that isn't just me."

I look to her still naked form, "Now I feel I missed something important. Oh, wait. I forgot to get gifts."

"That fucking was all the gift I needed. If I can stand up." Neo says as I help her to get onto her still shaky legs. Neo had put up a small tree in the living room with stockings for the two of us and Roman. Wait. Romans here. Getting dressed!

Exiting our room, clothed this time in casual clothes, Neo and I take a spot on the couch.

The gifts go by fairly fast as well. Roman got a new hat, not that he needed it. Neo got a significant media collection (which did contain Star Wars, apparently George Lucas is extradimensional), and I got a single hot pink Dust crystal.

"What does this do?" I ask, holding the single crystal.

"That makes members of the opposite sex (and any gay members of the same sex) unnaturally attracted to the user, or you in this case, until the effects wear off." Roman explains.

"Wat."


	11. Chapter 10

_Italics = text messages or Neo's signs or thoughts_

 **Bold = TVs, calls, and other electronic voices**

* * *

(POV - Zarek)

"That _was_ fun! Oh, ohohohohohohoho, we need _to_ do this again sometime! Ohahahahahahah!" Ray exclaims rather cheerfully, considering she lost.

"I don't see why not," I give the (probably) slightly crazy girl with the weirdest intonation I have ever heard my number. And Collin has a unique accent due to his genetics and Ray tops even his pretty wild speaking patterns.

But I digress. I reenter the waiting room, which is notably more empty since people have been eliminated. After the Aura healer, can't forget her.

"Hey! Nix! Over here!" Mercury calls out from a corner of the room, near one of the many TVs.

"Looks like the White Fang's reign of terror has begun. I thought they were to hold off until July?" I ask, given the assassination of a prominent anti-WF member. Side note, even in an alternate world, people still hold to frankly stupid beliefs. At least, I think they're stupid. Then again, I understand that I'm fairly biased.

"They were. I guess their part of the plan is moving forward smoothly." Merc pulls me from my thoughts.

"Ah. Do you know if Roman has a place picked out to put all the Dust we'll be getting?"

"No, Neo?" Merc responds to my question. Neo shakes her head no.

"I'll have to ask him the next chance I get. Who's up next for the tournament?" I ask and Neo puts her hand up like a schoolgirl.

"Well, good luck. I don't think you'll need it though." I wish my little icecream girl luck as she enters the arena. Guess what? She didn't. It was a one sided ass whooping.

Soon enough I return to the arena, facing off against someone that looks awfully similar to someone I just met.

"Haaaaaaay! I heard you beat up my sister! Good! That means you might be interesting!" Ecru, as the scoreboard names her, yells out across the arena.

I roll my eyes at her antics, "Just worry about fighting, I only have so much patience after a fight like earlier."

"OOOOooooh. You'll make a **great** plaything." Ecru maliciously states.

The countdown begins anew as we draw our weapons, her a javelin that has a very large magazine attached to it, and me my twin revolvers. The arena appears to be split between a mountain and a city, with the city behind me… Is the universe trying to tell me something?

"Begin!" Ecru opens up with a newly shifted LMG (light machine gun), catching me flat footed.

"Guess I'm more out of it after that last fight than I thought." I mention aloud before making an expeditious retreat into the city.

"I was right, you **are** going to be a fun plaything. Now, come out, come out wherever you are~!" Ecru singsongs out through the empty city scape. I bide my time as she checks empty buildings, occasionally spraying bullets at the shadows.

"Now don't make this boring for me or I might have to pull out all the **STOPS!** " Ecru says, enunciating the end with a massive flare of fire that quickly ravages one of the buildings turning it into a molten puddle of concrete and steel.

'Challenge accepted.' I swing using my line launcher and flip before spiking her head into the ground and use the kinda wonky gravity of Remnant (how else do you think it's possible to jump from falling rubble?) to get back into one of the buildings, but not before firing a shot at the vulnerable Ecru.

She kicks herself back up and says, " **There you are…** " with true venom leaking from her voice while spinning her LMG to bear. I purposely fall out of the window and kick off from the building, bullets spraying around me, towards her.

I meant for that to be a feign. Totally. " **Enough** with the tricks **, come** and **play** with me~!" I'm kind of standing in front of you. What do you mean tricks? I'll find out later. I end the fight unceremoniously by clocking her on the back of the head with my revolver.

* * *

(POV - Ecru)

" **HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!** " My voice echoes out across the poor town my sister and I have come across. My flames have spread across this unprepared town in the Vacuan desert with my sister dimming the flames to the point of being invisible. Nothing has people **scream** for me like an invisible flame. I do prefer being able to see the flames spread and just cause chaos but that attracts too much Grimm for my tastes.

* * *

(POV - Zarek)

That was… Enlightening. In more ways than one. Like getting confirmation on Ray's Semblance, which is light manipulation. Just an example. I arrive back to the waiting room with Merc and Neo waiting for me.

"Nix, what the hell was that?" Mercury questions.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I respond, deadpan.

"Then what is this?" he continues questioning me while gesturing to one of the TVs which is playing back footage of me shattering through the hail of bullets that lead me to Ecru.

"Looks like Neo's semblance. Babe?" I ask Neo, who shakes her head in response.

"I already asked her if she messed with the fight. Now. What. Was. That?" Mercury presses. As if I actually know what happened.

' _Unless…?'_ I focus my thoughts inward looking for a similar mental thread to my Semblance. I find something alright. If Adaptation feels like pulling on a rope ladder, then this feels like pulling a rope with a bunch of objects I associate with certain people; for example the one that feels closest to the top of that rope is an ice cream cone. I pull on it and a copy of me appears before us.

"What the hell?!" Mercury exclaims, with both him and Neo taking a step back.

"Huh. So that's what that was." I speak my thoughts aloud at the fact I just called upon _someone else's Semblance_. I flick the copy me and it shatters, as expected.

" _Ok, now you have to explain._ " Neo forms a sign in her hand.

"Long- Ok, short story even shorter, I think I can call upon other peoples semblances after I touch them. It would explain all the visions, that would be the best way to put it, I have been getting." I explain.

"Now, how on Monty's green Remnant does that work?" Mercury asks visibly confused.

"Merc,"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go into Semblance based metaphysics or are you just gonna say that it's bullshit and move on?" I deadpan my sarchasm.

"That's bullshit."

"My points exactly. Semblances are all equally stupid and I love it." I spout my thoughts.

" _This will be awkward, maybe hold off practising that until after the tournament?"_ Neo signs after a second to take in exactly how ridiculous and crazy powerful that would be.

"Just for you babe." I respond flirtily. Wink and everything.

" **Would Neopolitan and Nix please come to the arena. Neopolitan and Nix to the arena."** The announcement of the match echoes through the mostly empty waiting room.

"Shall we?" I ask, holding out a hand for her to take. I know right? Hand holding in public? So lewd.

She does take my hand as we walk to the arena, "Hey, Zarek." Neo begins aloud, "What other semblances can you call on?"

"Good question." I focus back inwards, letting her lead me to the arena, the top of the rope is still the Neo stand in of an ice cream cone. The next would be a bowler hat with orange trim just above the rim of the hat. Fairly certain that is Roman's, although I don't actually know what his semblance is. Side note the memory that I got from Roman was the same as Neo's just from his perspective. Next would be… a Camera? Interesting, I have no idea who or what the could be. The camera itself is a standard, if not high quality, camera I would expect to see at a professional photoshoot. If it is somehow Velvet, i would expect it to be her camera or a bunny or something. "I think I have Roman's here just after yours, then I don't know who's that is. Let's see what else…" I trail off as I reenter my mental scape.

Neo nudges me to pull me from my almost meditation to show the arena, blank as it has reset again. She crosses the arena to take her position as I take mine. She pulls out a sign, " _Are you ready? ;)"_

"Better question, are you ready?" I rebut with a smirk as the battlefield randomiser begins again. Half of the randomiser slows and stops showing a desert with a lake in the middle of it before my half of the arena begins forming. By forming I mean dumping a lot of sand on my half of the arena before a lake forms in the center of the sudden desert. Several palm trees and other greens quickly grow around the lake leaving the classic form of an Oasis.

When my half of the arena finishes forming, the other half of the randomiser finally stops, showing a snowflake with a tree in the foreground. A sudden blast of cold erupts from Neo's half of the arena, swiftly freezing the small amount of shrubbery that formed just a moment before. Several trees of different species spring up through the frozen ground as a second blast of cold, this one accompanied by snow, leaving the trees and ground covered in the white substance.

Neo pouts as this is not good for her usual fighting style, being hit and run, and considering how she hides herself… She is going to have to be creative to win this. So am I as she knows all of my fighting styles as well.

" **THREE!"** The countdown begins.

" **TWO!"** Neo deploys her parasol as I draw Luck and Probability.

" **ONE!"** Neo takes her fighting stance, which is parasol deployed over her shoulder and her stance ready to react to a hit. I meanwhile merely shift my weight to the right.

" **FIGHT!"** Neither of us move until I lazily raise Probability and take a shot at Neo. Predictably, she shatters into a million pieces.

"Playing hard to get I see. Two can play that game." I dryly state as I begin my search. I'm not trying particularly hard to try and find her as it's my entire goal to get her to come to me. To that end I have my guard seemingly lowered as bait. I start with the Oasis, given how the sand should show her footprints or the water will ripple should she move through it. I have tried to give her every possible advantage while still keeping my trap ready.

The tell tale sign of Neo's semblance shattering warns me of her attack. I duck below the first swing, high aiming for my head, but the follow up flurry I am no so lucky. However, it is my time to retaliate. I break from her attacks and fire off a few shots. Neo opens her parasol to block; evidently she forgot I have smart targeting on these revolvers as the bullets find their mark anyway.

She pulls the parasol onto her shoulder again, waiting for me to take a move. I lazily shoot the illusion again. "Really, Neo? I won that engagement, why drag this out longer than it needs to? Or do I have to incinerate this arena for you to come out?" At my taunting she reveals herself again or maybe she doesn't want me to pull on a certain pyromaniac's Semblance, we all saw what that could do.

Neo swings her parasol, once again closed, for my legs. I jump and fire Luck and Probability to propel myself away from the ice cream psychopath as she is far better than me in melee. I barely land before she's on me again. I thumb the scorch crystal on my belt, releasing a small burst of flame. It wasn't enough power to do much damage, but it did throw her off enough to allow room for a counter.

And counter I did. Or tried. There wasn't as much room in her defense as I thought. I tried to pistol whip her but she batted away my swing like a cat bats around a mouse. Now, being stuck in melee with her (for the time being), She returns the bludgeoning I attempted to do at a speed I could never hope to match.

I manage to catch her parasol in hand, unfortunately I dropped Probability to do so but sacrifices had to be made for victory before. I pull her closer and into my freshly formed fist. If it weren't for Aura (thank that bullshit of basically magic) I probably would have broken Neo's nose. Or her face. I happen to like said face, so I am happy in return that I didn't break it.

The buzzer blares, I apparently lowered Neo's Aura enough to constitute victory. I let go of Neo's parasol and reclaim Probability, promptly returning it and Luck to their holsters.

"That was anticlimactic. I was hoping to continue just a little longer. Now how am I going to vent my frustration?" I ask sarcastically. I saw that look Neo, I'll get to you after I beat the snot out of Mercury.

Speaking of Mercury, "You ready?"

"Hell yeah, bring it." I respond as he enters the Arena.

* * *

(A/N Omake Time! Long live Monty's work and the inspiration he has bestowed upon me!)

 **Omake: What's up with the head in the fridge?**

"Hey, Neo." I get the attention of the tricolored girl, "I've always wondered, why is there a head in the fridge?"

"Oh that," she rolls onto her back, head still in my lap, "Long story short, he pissed me and Roman off and I taught him a lesson."

"But how is he still alive without consistent food, water, a working respiratory system and cardiovascular system?" I ask while guessing at the answer.

"Semblance interaction, Roman has permanent injury while the bodiless guy has stupid regeneration. To the point where doctors believed the guy would never die of old age until Roman came along and," She puts a finger in her mouth to make a Pop! "Took his head off. The body died without the head while the head continued living. So I put him in the fridge to make him suffer more. Although at this point messing with him is just a running gag."

"That's mean. I love it."


End file.
